


Play By The Cards

by LoeysAeri



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Crimes & Criminals, Death, Drama, Falling In Love, Gen, Humor, Loss of Parent(s), Love/Hate, M/M, Mystery, Police, Romance, Thriller, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 15:53:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 76,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14548173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoeysAeri/pseuds/LoeysAeri
Summary: In a world where justice meets crime, a determined detective and his partner are tasked with tracking down their departments most hunted group of criminals but when a bigger and sinister threat starts showing its face; throwing everything out of balance, Sehun must figure out a way to stop the city from becoming a slaughter house. Even if it meant working together with unpredictable, damaged individuals.





	1. Episode 1: It's A Start

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - what you need to know:
> 
> Chanyeol (Assassin):
> 
> He’s a sniper who loves to play with fire (would burn you alive if he feels like it). Goes by the name “Phoenix” (a player) his secondary weapon is a metal bat. He only works for people who have a lot of money.
> 
> Baekhyun (Conman):
> 
> Can cheat you out of all you own, a liar and has a million fake names (not a killer but can fight) carries a knife in his belt. 
> 
> Suho (Boss):
> 
> The CEO of a large company chain but secretly runs an underground criminal club (no one knows his identity) killing is his second nature.  
> 
> Chen (Vanguard):
> 
> Has a gun 24/7 But is best at hand to hand combat (can kill you with a punch) although he won’t hesitate to shoot you. Isn’t scared of anything and kind of annoying.
> 
> Kai (Seducer):
> 
> Seduces anyone to get what he wants (information, etc.) Good with poisons and pills (knows which ones will kill you instantly) two faced.
> 
> Kyungsoo (Brains):
> 
> Small but can beat you up. Very smart, good at framing people so he doesn't get caught (was part of a rich family) great at acting (making him untrustworthy).
> 
> Xiumin (Dealer):
> 
> He always knows what he’s doing and anyone who encounters him must go by his rules or die. He’s a great dealer, knows the ins and outs of the streets and who works around. Doesn’t like messes everything he does is neat. Hates anyone younger than him.
> 
> Lay (Surgeon):
> 
> A surgeon who’s well known to create miracles, always covered in blood. Secretly tortures and kills patients who he knows to be bad. (police have statement evidence put can’t pin anything on him because he’s so likeable and no one would believe without hard physical evidence)

Night time. A time when everyone comes out to play whether it be to party, grab a few drinks or do something illegal. The busy streets of downtown was candy to the eyes of criminals, a shield they could easily disappear into. Bright lights flashed all around, advertisements about everything graced the screens of billboards trying to get those naive enough to buy their product. Strangers and friends alike walked up and down the sidewalks as cars drove past, occasionally crossing the street to get a little bit closer to their destination. And if you looked closely near the corners of brick buildings and the entrance ways of alleys women in sexy attire lured you into buying them for a night and deeper in the dark were miscellaneous thugs trading things off discreetly. You can also notice individuals pick pocketing, stealing or leading their victims to their demise but that was only if you had an eye for the wretched and dangerous. 

At the same time on the outskirts of town in a big mansion slept peacefully a boy who's day had been very busy. The silence of the night drew on as his body rose in steady breaths. Outside his big white bedroom door a group of men dressed in all black outfits silently and sneakily crept towards it. One of them slowly opens the door letting in the soft light of the hallway seep in. The lump of the boys body outlined on the bed and they all rush in just as the boy stirs from the unexpected brightness. 

The men gather around the bed. "Mom, dad? Is that you?" the boy asks in a groggy tone, rubbing his eyes. 

The sleepy state he was in made it hard to focus and all he could see were black blobs around him but the boy was scared nonetheless, he felt a shiver run up his spine as his eyes adjusted and settled on the intimidating males. His big brown eyes widen and his mouth opens to scream but one of the men swiftly pulled out a white cloth and clamped it over his mouth, muffling his sounds. The man drags him out of bed as the boy struggles, his vision becomes blurry and his head light. Just when he was losing consciousness another man comes over encasing his head in something as the boy falls into darkness.

 

 

The all black dressed men drag the boy's body out of the van they had driven to their destination. Two men hold him up as they pass through the big doors of an abandoned warehouse, which was dark with only the moonlight shining through a single window high on the wall. 

"Boss we brought him" one of the men said.

The two that were holding the boy pushed him down onto his knees in front of a chair where a male sat obscured in darkness. They remove the bag from the boys head and the scared, trembling kid looked on at the male, a relentless unease overcoming him. The boy felt hurt all over from the way they had beat him up to keep him quiet in the van from all his screaming and crying when he had come to. 

"M-my dad will get you, he'll sue you for kidnapping m-me. H-he won't show any mercy" the boy tried to threaten. The men in black laughed but the male in front of him stayed quiet which made everything much more eerie.

"Kill him" the male suddenly said and the boy's heart dropped. 

"What!? Stop! No, you can't!" the boy yelled just as one of the men behind him rests their hand under his chin and pulled his head back. The boys eyes were tearing up as he felt something cold hit the base of his throat, he has never been so scared in his life. 

"Please stop, I can be of help to you, I have plenty of money!" the boy shouted, bawling as he did so; even the front of his pants were soiled. 

"Yes you can be of help" he hears the deep emotionless voice of the male still sitting, watching. 

The boy smiles in relief "yes, yes I-",

"Dead" the male interrupted and the boys face crumples in horror. "Kill him" he says again. And this time the boy could only kneel there scared and shaking as the man with the butcher knife swung his hand back, the boy closed his eyes, heart thumping  _why?_ he thought just as the man lodges the knife deep into his throat, blood instantly spraying out onto the floor.

The man let's go of the boy and he drops into a heap, his blood pooling around him. They all look toward their boss, the moonlight had shifted and they could only see one lifeless eye looking back at them.

"This city will know what real fear is." 

_\-------------------------------_

_"Multiple sources have witnessed dead bodies around the city, two were found downtown in a casino club and across the street in an alley. A_ _nother was found on the other side of the city right in front of his home. The suspects didn't bother to hide them, almost like they wanted us to see them. What could this possibly mean? And what is the police doing about it? All these questions will be addressed after these messages"._

Sehun clicks off the TV and brews himself some coffee. The news was always trying to blow things out of proportion like there hasn't been murder cases around here before then blame the police on how lacking they were in catching these criminals. 

"Another bout of murders?" a voice behind him speaks. Sehun didn't bother turning around, he knew who it was, his partner Jeonho. Sehun sighs and nods putting in a fixed amount of sugars in his coffee.

"Do you think it's them again?" Jeonho says coming over. 

"Even if it's them we don't have any evidence to pin them with" Sehun sips his warm beverage. "it's irritating" 

"Yeah, Chief is on everyone to finally bring them into custody" Jeonho states. 

Sehun has only been assigned to this department for two years, on his time spent here he knew how the police have been trying to capture these eight misfit criminals but have come up short each time. He's heard the stories from the other officers stating that they were a ruthless bunch but no one could really put faces to them and that despite not being in any covert relationship end up murdering at the same time, to Sehun it seemed way to frequent to be a coincidence yet that was all it was. The department tried investigating into it for months but came up with nothing that lead them to the notion they organize their killings together. Sehun has grown to hate the bunch as it put an accumulative stress on the officers for every minute they still roamed the streets. The department has been on hold from finding them for a year now upon having more pressing things than to go on a wild goose chase overly blind. 

Sehun turned to his partner, "find out anything about the dead bodies?" he wasn't in doubt that it was probably their work.

"Well there were only three this time. One with a knife lodged into their throat, another with one clean bullet wound through the head and the last one with severe damage to the face." 

Sehun contorted his face in to disgust, "they never fail to be merciless".

Jeonho hums thoughtfully before turning to him "oh yeah, chief wanted to see you." A groan escaped the tall males lips but he nods, resting down his coffee knowing it was best not to keep the chief waiting. 

 

Once in front of the heads office he knocks. "come in" he faintly hears and Sehun slips inside. The Chiefs office was very basic, a desk, filing cabinets. There were even certificates on the wall behind him, a sofa off to the side with a wooden coffee table in front and two pairs of chairs by his desk. 

Sehun stood firm by the door "sir, you called?"

The Chief was a man in his 30s, very strict and had a high temper many of the older officers liked to test for fun. He had black hair and a nice structured face with hard black eyes. 

"Yes I did. Have a seat" he gestured to one of the chairs. 

Sehun did as he was told, contrary to the others he did not like to test his Chiefs temper. He's already had to deal with it more than once before and it wasn't a pretty sight. He looked to the left and saw the small TV the Chief had on his desk playing the news and Sehun cursed inwardly. 

"Detective Oh" he says

"Yes sir?"

The Chief leans forward on his elbows looking him firmly in the eye. "What is our job as policemen?" Sehun closed his eyes briefly knowing where this was going. "It is our job to capture criminals and bring them to face justice" he recited from memory. 

"Right, right" the Chief nods slowly. "And why do we do that?"

"So the streets of our city can be harmless and protected so the citizens can walk free of danger".

The older male then slammed his hand on the table, disturbing every thing on it "so why! Are those hooligans still causing havoc and murder, leaving them for all the people to see!?" He pointed at the TV. They were showing the taped off areas of where they found the victims bodies, Sehun grimaced.

"What if it's not them, it could be other criminals" Sehun tries to calm him. 

"Oh? Who else kills like that Detective Oh? Huh? We've caught a lot of criminals but none of them leave their victims at the crime scene, They all try to discard of the bodies but not these guys" the Chief sits back in his chair rubbing his temples. 

"This makes us look bad Detective Oh" he starts. 

_I already know that, the news capitalizes on it every chance they get._

"People are looking to us to rid the streets of people like this and how do we look when this happens each time? We look like we don't care, like we are doing nothing to stop this from happening and soon everyone will question our authority." 

It was quiet between the two for a while before the Chief spoke up again. 

"Detective Oh, I'm assigning this case to you and until you capture those eight men once and for all you will not be doing anymore field work" 

Sehun shot up from his seat, appalled "what!? But why!?" 

"Lower your voice at your senior, Detective" the Chief glared at him and Sehun sat back down his disbelief not wavering. 

"These men are well known in the criminal work, they give other bad guys motive to wreck more havoc and that in itself can turn into chaos. So until you can get them into custody you won't be joining the other officers in any other upscale cases."

"But Chief, it's been years and they've always slipped out from under us. How am I supposed to find them?"

The older male looked at Sehun, some of his age showing from years in the field seeing and dealing with things unimaginable to an everyday person. "You are a Detective Mr. Oh, your specialty is finding hidden people. You have the resources now get to work. The quicker these guys are off the streets the better".

 

 

Sehun sat as his desk staring but not seeing his computer screen. Where do start? I have no leads, Sehun thought to himself.

A hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder and Sehun jumped "looks like you got chewed out" Jeonho said behind him. Sehun relaxed and blamed his anxiousness on the fact that his career was basically on the line.

"Don't worry I got in trouble too, so I guess we are desk gnomes until we bring these guys to the police station" Sehun's partner says taking a seat at the desk next to him. 

Sehun sighed and leaned over on his elbows, "this sucks. We don't even know the first thing about these guys or where to look". There was silence as Jeonho thought this over "we could bring out the files we have on them, they might just be picked pieces from here and there but it's a start".

Sehun looked over to his partners eyebrows raised "we have files on them?" he sits up straighter.

Jeonho nods "as far as I know. When the department took on the task they went around asking anyone if they knew anything, they only came up with a few stuff though".

Sehun felt a little bit of hope stir inside him, there has to be something useful in those files, right? Even though it's just a small lead. "Okay, let's go" he says. 

They both get up from their desks and take the elevator down to the basement file room. A big dusty space full of shelves stacked with boxes on boxes of criminal portfolios. Taeyeon was there as usual stacking new files and throwing old ones out, sorting everything back into order that was otherwise not.

"Oh hey Sehun. What brings you here" she says looking up from her cart full of boxes. 

Taeyeon was a pretty girl. Her hair was died blonde and cut into a bob that suit her really well, her eyes were big and brown, she wasn't someone you would expect to work in criminal justice although she was just a behind the scenes worker but she was very smart. 

"You guys are on a first name basis?" Sehun hears his partner whisper to him playfully and he rolls his eyes. 

"Taeyeon, we're looking for the file on those eight criminals the department has been chasing after?" Sehun asks her. "Ah." she says resting down a bundle of files "Chief finally wants them behind bars once and for all, huh?" she smiles. 

"You have no idea, he even made Jeonho and I desk bunnies until then" Sehun follows behind her, his partner following. "Oh, that sucks" she states going down one of the many aisles. 

She stops at a box labelled OT8 and Sehun scoffs at the name, he was familiar with the abbreviation his niece used it all the time for her obsession with idol groups. Taeyeon pulls out the dusty cardboard and coughs when some gets into her nose, fanning the air around her she turns around and holds the box out to Sehun. 

"Here, this is all we have on them, since it's been a long time since you guys even bothered I would see why you would want to refresh your memory". Sehun hums in response and takes the box. "Come on Jeonho, let's go study," 

"Oh goodie" his partner says sarcastically. 

"Have fun, I hope you get them this time" Taeyeon waves as they leave. 

 

Sehun sets the box down heavily onto his desk and stretches before sitting down. "Okay, what do we got" he rifles through the box seeing the individual files each criminal had. He took them out and gave some to Jeonho. They were quite thin which was not too surprising, opening one they start reading. 

"Dealer, no other name written, no basic info. Murders are never messy, so no blood matches" Sehun read.

"Phoenix. No other name written, no basic info. A hired killer" Jeonho related from his own file. "Wow, I knew it was little info but not this little" Sehun said looking at the others. 

A conman, another with no labelled identity and nothing else written other than 'boss'. Boss? Boss of what? Sehun sighs. Going on there was one that seduced others, no written name or basic info, one reported for extensive fraud and as they come across the last one Sehun looks closer,

"This guy, the surgeon?" he questions. 

Lay or Yixing whichever one you chose, he answered to both was a well known surgeon in the medical field regarded highly for performing miracles but some have come with statements saying he also kills his patients but without hard evidence he's been scott free. 

"Why don't any of them have names" Jeonho groaned. 

"This one does" he waves the surgeons file, we could start with him. If he's in this box he has to be one of them, right?" Sehun questions looking at the males picture, the only one out of the rest to have. 

"It's a start, let's go" Jeonho gets up and Sehun follows grabbing his jacket from behind his chair. 

 

They drive down the street, Sehun looking out the window at the passing pedestrians. They could be anybody, he thought. He looks up just as they ride past the big building of 'Kim Enterprises', the biggest company in the world. The CEO was always on the news, a very dapper male with a youthful but wise look to him although Sehun always felt a cold aura around the man but it could just be that he was a strict owner that had a lot of things to deal with. They pass the building and Sehun watches it disappear through the rearview mirror. 

They get to the central hospital in minutes, at the front desk they show the receptionist their badges and request to speak to surgeon Yixing."Sorry but he's in an operation right now" the woman said, she looked to be in her 40s. 

Sehun clicked his tongue, he felt an urge like they needed to hurry and he couldn't afford this set back. "Any idea when he'll finish?" Jeonho asks.

The woman shakes her head, "I can call a nurse to tell him you're here but otherwise you'd need to sit and wait" she says gesturing to the rows of chairs behind them. Sehun sighs and nods going over to the seats but before the both of them can sit a voice piped up from behind.

"You wanted to see me?" they said. Sehun turned around and instantly recoiled, the male that stood in front of him was covered in blood, some on his face, hands and scrubs. 

"Dr. Zhang" the receptionist states surprised "I didn't expect you out so soon". The male laughed lightly and suddenly the eerie aura of his attire evaporated and Sehun somehow relaxed. "Neither did I" he said looking at Sehun with very interested and curious eyes. 

Jeonho swallowed and addressed the doctor, "yeah. We're here, Dr. Zhang on account of a case. We are looking for eight male criminals that have been slipping from our departments grasp since forever and we believe you to be one of them".

Sehun looked to his partner surprised at his forwardness, he held up his police badge and Sehun followed suit. Yixing tilted his head to the side slowly pulling off his bloody gloves, "oh?" he smiled but it seemed different from before and he kept his unwavering gaze on Sehun who now felt anything but relaxed. "Well, follow me".

His eyes didn't leave him until he turned out of his sights viewpoint, if Sehun was being honest, it was very creepy. 

 

 

Back at the police office an officer brings in a package that was discarded by the rear doors with the buildings address and no return. The others gather round as he rests it on the table, huffing at how heavy it was. "Did one of you order something again?" he asked.

The others shake their heads and they all look around curiously "it's addressed to here, shouldn't we open it?" another asked. "it has no return address, what if it's an explosive?".

They all went quiet until one of the older officers spoke up. "Go get the Chief and call on the bomb unit. If it really is an explosive it might go off at anytime".

Everyone jumps into action and soon the office was a bustling space. The Chief comes up to see the box and the bomb unit rushes up in special suits with their special kits from downstairs, they tell everyone to stand back as they do their thing and search the suspicious box. They carefully get it open checking inside, but instead of rushing to defuse the bomb one of the units men turns around and throws up. Everyone quickly rushes over and they all recoil in shock some following suit and heaving up their lunch.

The Chief looked on in horror, he's seen a lot of things in his life but never this. Inside the box was a body skinned and cut to pieces. Upon closer look the chief saw a white card resting on top and reluctantly he reaches for it, some blood grazing his fingers and he shakes it off. Looking at the white paper there were only four words written,

_Let the game begin._


	2. Episode 2: King of Spades

A knock sounded against the polished wooden door. Suho sat at his black desk looking over all the papers he's been neglecting; offers from other businesses for joint projects, a summary of his stocks having risen to an all-time high and some stuff he needed to sign off on.

"Come in" he calls in a frustrated grunt. Being interrupted is something he hated from a list of many other things, reading over paperwork happened to be on it also. The door slowly opened and the secretary of his office stepped in, closing the door and sauntering over to the CEO's desk. She stood there waiting, loving the stern look her boss had while staring at the paperwork he held.

"Speak" he said with authority and Seulgi grew moist between her legs at his assertiveness. His black hair was slicked back and his fitted suit hugged nicely around his muscles, he looked delicious. 

Kang Seulgi has been working for Suho almost 3 years now, they first met in college when they were both taking the same business major. They went out for a time and even back then her boss still had the same stern look and cold eyes that she loved. He seemed strong and reliable, she knew he would make it big and when he did Seulgi vowed to work for him, she felt that they would be amazing partners. They broke up a year later when Suho told her he liked men and having sex with her wasn't doing anything for him but she always showed her feelings for him whether or not he acknowledged them and like she wished, later down the line they became great partners in crime, literally. 

Seulgi found out about her boss's ruthless killing habit one night at the office. She had stayed back late to do some extra desk work for the next day when she heard some noises coming from Suho's office. She had looked over to see the lights on which wasn't an odd sight, her boss was very hardworking and usually stayed later than anyone but what caused her to be curious was the muffled yelling coming from inside. Her curiosity taking over she crept close and peered into the crack of the door, her eyes widening with surprise. There on the floor was one of the employees lying bloody with multiple stab wounds one of which was in the neck. Her boss stood over the body, calm and expressionless, he looked up and they made eye contact. Seulgi had felt a kind of pact then, the longer he looked at her, not shrieking of fear or running she knew that they'd be binded by that night.

"I have the recent overlook of the clubs progress and negatives" she said smiling. Suho held out his hand for her to pass him the file. His eyes moved from the top of his desk to her and she squirmed, trying to adjust herself. She never got so aroused by anyone with just one look, no, only her boss could do that. Those cold dead eyes, she felt elated. 

As he observed the file, Seulgi made her way behind his desk. "These damn bastards, how many tables and chairs am I supposed to waste funds on over the year? At least the numbers are going up, I guess more of them are finding the place".

Suho suddenly felt gentle hands slide over his shoulders and down the front of his chest. "Yeah, you sure do know how to run a good business" Seulgi whispered into his ear. She was dripping all down her leg and she wanted her boss. 

"Who told you to speak?" Suho said angrily, pushing her hands off of him "and don't touch me, I'm in no mood for your antics." She brought her hands back, relentless, moving her head closer to his ear and licking it. "You know I can't help myself if you stare at me like that, I'm wet for you" she purrs.

Suho shot up and wrapped his fist around her throat, pushing her up against the wall. His glare almost made Seulgi cum right there.

"I said don't touch me or I'll choke you out" he growls. She smiles, face red, "you know how much I loved it when you choked me".

Suho watches as she moves her hands to hike up her skirt, touching herself. He clicks his tongue and swats her hand away replacing it with his own. Seulgi's legs shake at her bosses fingers sliding into her wet hole, fingering her.

"y-yes. Faster, faster" she moaned. "You're such a whore, why are you drenched like this?" Suho says sticking in a third finger without warning.

Seulgi screams his name at the pleasure and he removes his hand from her neck and places it over her mouth, "shut up".

He roughly but swiftly thrusts his fingers into her faster and faster until she was a moaning mess in his hands, her back arching against the wall. "hurry up and cum" Suho says looking at her pleasured face, eyes rolled back and a stupid smile on her face. He moved his fingers quicker and quicker adding his thumb to rub her clit. She finally comes with a long moan and goes limp, feeling overly stimulated. "That felt so good" she whispers unable to move. 

"Oh?" a deep voice sounds behind them, "did I come to a porn filming instead of the CEOs office?".

Suho looks behind him and Seulgi lazily glances over, he takes his fingers out of his secretary and she slides to the floor. Suho goes over to his desk and grabs some tissues, throwing a handful to Seulgi before wiping his own hands. The male standing at the door dressed in all black attire goes over to one of the black leather couches that occupy the left side of the room and slumps down, kicking his legs up on the glass coffee table. 

Suho clicks his tongue. "This is not your house, remove your dirty feet before I come over there and slice them open". The male laughs but does as he was told, not because he was scared but because he knew the CEO would do it without a second thought.

"Leave!" Suho shouted at Seulgi who was now getting up on still shaky legs. She smiles and nods, shutting the door on her way out. Suho sits back down in his plush chair and faces the all black dressed male. "What brings you here, Phoenix?" 

Suho has known the overly tall assassin since a year ago when he hired him to get rid of some investors he wanted nothing to do with. He was a handsome guy from what he could see and if Suho went for immature adolescence he'd be in the males pants by now. He had a nice jawline and pretty full lips that anyone would drool over,

"The guy you wanted dead, that employee who was sharing stock, has been offed" Phoenix said crossing his arms and looking at the CEO from under his hood.

The male liked this client more than all the other people he's worked with, his eyes were cold in a way Phoenix knew he's killed someone, if not multiple people. Plus he was rich and he only worked for the wealthy because the tall male liked to be rewarded big for his generous deeds. 

"Yeah, I saw it on the news" Suho stated, leaning back in his chair.

"Y'know, that secretary of yours is crazy. I always here her mumbling explicit thoughts to herself involving you, one time I even saw her kissing a cardboard cutout of you in the lobby" Phoenix shook his head at the secretary's weird behaviour and obsession. "It's too bad because she's super hot and I wouldn't mind having a share". The tall male looks towards the office's closed door.

"Be my guest and take her off my hands, she may be my partner but she's really annoying. Sometimes I want to shove a knife in her throat" Suho says rubbing his temples. 

The tall male chuckles. "Oh yeah" Phoenix speaks up gaining the CEOs eyes on him, "word on the street is, the police are back at it".

Suho pauses for a minute then narrows his eyes, "the case with us?" he asks.

Phoenix nods. "And those other criminal dweebs. I honestly don't know why they think we are conspiring together" the tall male falls back on to the leather couch, laying horizontal. He dips his hand into his pant pocket and pulls out a lighter, it had an engraving of a flame on the front. He flips it open and starts playing with it, staring at the fire that emerges. 

"I thought they quit" Suho questions, looking at his blue computer screen.

"I heard from Lay, he texted me before. They're at the hospital right now" Phoenix informs. 

Suho sighed, this is probably going to be a pain in the ass. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see if we are finally going to be killing some police officers".

The tall male closed the lighter and sat up, turning towards Suho. Phoenix always wore a hoodie that covered half his face and just left the lower part showing so all Suho saw was the menacing smile that filled the space but he could already tell what type of eyes were being hidden away and Suho smiled along.

"I've always wanted to do that" Phoenix said. 

\-------------------------- 

Sehun and Jeonho follow the doctor too the right, down a gray carpeted hallway that occupied many doors. Dr. Zhang stops in front of the one at the end and reveals a pair of keys hooked to his waist. Unlocking the door he ushers the detectives in. The room was like any other doctors office, a desk, a filing cabinet, a stepping scale and a hospital bed probably for quick checkups.

"Have a seat" Dr. Zhang said gesturing to the two chairs in front of his desk. Sehun and Jeonho do as told and Dr. Zhang comes over to sit in his chair opposite of them.

"Dr. Zha-",

"Yixing" the male interrupted with a smile.

Jeonho falters but nods "Yixing. Before we get to the main point, we'd like to bring forth those claims against you that we have on file".

"Why? are there new ones? I thought the police department were done with this investigation" Yixing says looking at them both, steadily. "Well, we have claims but no real evidence and that's also why we're here. Mind if we take a look around?" Jeonho encourages.

Yixing chuckles. Sehun watches the male, the way he moved had a calmness to it, like he wasn't fazed by the fact that they were here or surprised even that they took this case up again.

"You seem unbothered for a person whose being accused of murder, should we take this as you having no arguments and all claims are true?" Sehun pointedly asks. Yixing's eyes move from Jeonho to him, they were hard not light and smiley like before. What was wrong with this guy? He seemed to have two different sides to him.

"Mr...." Yixing trails off.

"Sehun, Oh Sehun and this is my partner Kang Jeonho" the tall detective introduced. 

"Mr. Oh, I have a lot of death on my hands, I'm a surgeon. Despite what the media says, I do come up short sometimes" Yixing says to him matter-of-factly. The two policemen look at each other, both agreeing that he had a point.

Yixing looked at the two males, they were persistent he thought. He's had to deal with the police department before but that was years ago and even then it was easy to put them off his trail, with a smile and a few kind words. But these two, especially Detective Oh, didn't look like they were deterred that easily, Yixing blamed it on the curiousity of the young. But he knew why they were here, as the detectives said, they were here for him and seven others. Those seven other guys could be grouped as the celebrities of the criminal field, known and respected by other bad criminals and sometimes even hated. Yixing knew those guys well, along with most of the underground units of lurking bad guys. He was their private doctor you could say, anything they needed stitched or tended to they came to him.

Sehun glanced at the doctor, he just had an air about him the way he sat calmly and talked to the two detectives. Sehun felt like he knew something but he didn't know for sure. 

"Dr. Zha-..er..i mean, Yixing. Can you tell us anything about OT8?" Sehun asked. Behind his folded hands, Yixing smiled. This was going to be interesting.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about" Yixing lied. 

"OT8. A group of criminal master minds who up until now have evaded our grasp. We believe you to be one of them based on your file record" the shorter detective spoke up, Jeonho. 

Just then Wendy, Yixing's assistant, walks in gaining the three men's attention. "Ah. Wendy, do you need something?" Yixing looked towards her, giving her a curt signal as the heads of the detectives were turned.

Wendy didn't falter but acknowledged her bosses signal. "Dr. Zhang, you have another operation in two minutes, the OR has been prepped".

"Thank you Wendy" the doctor says. The two males switch their attention back to Yixing. "I'm sorry detectives, that I couldn't be of much help but I do need to leave".

Yixing gets up and comes around the desk ushering the two males to stand up. Sehun and Jeonho confused, look at each other. "but we have more questions" Sehun says as he is pushed out the office.

"I'm sorry but my job comes first, saving people's lives come first" Yixing gives him a warm smile, patting his chest. The doctor turns away from them to walk back down the hall with his assistant relaying the specifics of the operation.

"Well that was a waste" Jeonho says watching the doctors back disappear around the corner. 

"Tell me about it, that gave us nothing but the fact that he seems innocent" Sehun rubs his face. "This guy could just be a simple surgeon. What if those claims were just from angry, hurt family members from their loss?".

Jeonho groans. "All I know is that we are still at square one and that I need a coffee break"

Sehun nods "yeah, let's go get some bubble tea and talk things over" he starts walking.

"I said coffee not bubble tea" Jeonho rolls his eyes at his partners obsession. As the two walk out of the hospital, Sehun's phone starts to ring. He fishes it out of his pocket to see the Chiefs name on his screen, he swipes to answer. 

"Yes Chief?" he answers. "You and Jeonho get here now!" he shouts through the phone and hangs up.

Sehun takes the phone away from his ear and looks at the screen confused, "what is it?, was it from the department?" Jeonho asked.

Sehun nods "it was Chief".

"What did he want?". Sehun shook his head "I don't know but it sounded urgent so let's hurry". 

"Does this mean no coffee break?" Jeonho says disheartened but Sehun keeps walking and he sighs. They both hustle into Sehun's car and he pulls out of the parking lot, turning onto the road and speeding off.

 

 

 

They return to the department and using their badges they check into the building. They make a beeline for the Chiefs office.

"What is it? Why were you yelling over the phone?" Sehun asks as they enter. The head of the department looks at them with wary hard eyes and his mouth pressed into a line. "Follow me" he says getting up.

The two young officers were confused but followed. The Chief leads them into the elevator and presses the button to the basement. The chief doesn't say a word as they go down. The door opens and they come off, walking down the hallway and turning left to the forensics room.

"What are we doing in here?" Sehun questions. They pass by some of the workers and head to the back room where Minho the head of forensics stood over a table.

He looks up as they come in, "oh hey guys, just taking some samples". Sehun looked to the table and almost hurled. There was a scattering of what looked like cut up human parts, Jeonho beside him also gagged at the sight.

"What the hell Chief? Is that what I think it is?" Sehun makes a disgusted face at the parts covering his mouth and nose.

"Yes. It's a body that's been cut up and skinned. It arrived in a package near the rear of the department a while after you left, we thought it was a bomb but as you can see it was something much more brutal" the Chief informs.

"What? Any idea who sent it?" Jeonho questioned. "None. The package had no return address. So far we've only been able to identify that it was a boy around the age of 14, Minho is still working on finding out the identity".

Sehun couldn't believe what he was hearing, who would do such a grotesque thing and to a kid no less, they had to be all types of sick.

"Any ideas on who could've done this?" Sehun asks.

"Well-" Chief started.

"OT8" said a voice near the doorway cutting him off. Everyone looked behind them to see head police officer, Leeteuk. He walked over and put two hands on his hips looking at them, Minho on the other hand kept working.

"Those guys are obviously behind this. They are the ruthless type and are capable of stooping as low as this, that's why we need you to hurry and catch them detective Oh. The longer they're out getting off scott free things like this will continue" Leeteuk argues.

Sehun wondered, was it OT8? He knew them to be merciless but would they really do something of this scale? Finding them seemed crucial at this point but he was still at square one.

"I don't think it's them" Chief pipes up and they all turn to him, even Minho, who knows him to be the first to acccuse those criminals himself. "I think we have a bigger case on our hands" .

"Old man, aren't you the one whose been wanting these guys off the streets for years? they've turned our department on its head multiple times and now that they've finally gone too far, making them even more dangerous to let roam the streets you want to disregard them as suspects?" Officer Leeteuk looked at Chief as if he had two heads.

"It's just not their style, I really think there is something bigger here. Nothing like this has happened in Ilcan before" he puts his fingers to his chin, thinking.

"Now criminals have styles?" Leeteuk questioned.

Sehun and Jeonho watched the two. The whole department knew they'd fought a lot, Leeteuk being the head of police who wants to become chief but the old man finding him not ready or suitable for the role. Most of their bickering and hostile atmosphere was because of that.

The Chief looked up, "yes officer, that's how we distinguish a serial killer from a theif". They both stare at each other for a while before Leeteuk huffs and leaves. Chief turned to Sehun and Jeonho who have been quiet. 

"Both of you are done for today, I'll talk to you later about your progress" he said. He walks passed the two detectives and Sehun sticks his hand out to stop him, the Chief looked back at him.

"You're not going to ask us to join the case?", Chief turned to them "you are on the case, as much as I think it doesn't add up OT8 is all we have as a lead right now and you're in charge of finding them, so hurry"

 

 

Back at his desk, Sehun swivels around on his wheeled chair feeling drained of today's events and frustrated that he hasn't got not one step closer to finding these criminals. Why was this so hard? He thought, it's not like he and the department has never uncovered a criminals identity before or found there whereabouts. But these guys are skilled, how else can they go so long without being caught or even have proper documented files in police records, no names, no pictures, nothing.

Sehun sighed as he sat up, feeling around in his chest pocket for a pen but his fingers touched something different. He looks down to see a paper tucked into the small space. "What's this?" He asked himself. Sehun pulls it out and looks at the object confusingly, it was the King of Spades playing card.

That's weird, Sehun mused. Why is this in my uniform pocket?

 


	3. File Unlocked: Lay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: let's see if you can figure out the pattern of unlocking these. :)

Zhang Yixing a.k.a; Lay

October 7th 1991

Surgeon

 

_The river flowed smoothly downstream, the splashing waves were the only noise in the deep forest other than some singing birds. Yixing sat by the river bank completely enthralled by the swimming fishes he could see underneath the current._

_"Hello, fishies" he said as he stuck his hand slowly into the water._

_At first it disturbed them but soon they just adapted and swam around him, some brushing his fingers as they raced passed. Yixing was fascinated by the scaly touch of them._

_"You're so pretty" he said._ _His eyes then glance towards the bright blue, plastic watch he had around his wrist._

_"Ah, time to get back" he mumbles, already standing up and dusting himself off with his dry hand._

_Just then something moving caught his attention and he looked to his right. A small bird laid flapping helplessly in the grass, chirping._

_"Awe, little guy, what happened?" Yixing questions, going over to the needy bird._

_He bent over the little bird and helped it so it now stood on two feet "there you go"._

_Yixing watches as the bird flaps it's wings and starts flying off, he then takes out the slingshot he had in his back pockets and aimed it at the small creature that was getting farther away. Once he was locked on target he let the rock go and it went sailing, successfully hitting the bird and Yixing laughed._

_"Bull's-eye"._

_He runs over to where the bird fell and witnessed the blood coming from beneath him. Yixing crouches and flips the animal over for a better look, there, sharply lodged into the birds neck, was his rock._

_"Looks like we're going to have to get you some medical attention"._

_Yixing has been fascinated with doctors, specifically surgeons since he's watched shows on TV. He loved seeing them save lives but also he found it oddly satisfying when some of them died on the operating table. To him some of them didn't deserve to be operated on, like the pedophile in one episode or the rude man who couldn't wait his turn._

_He also had a connection with medicine mixing since his grandmother has been doing it for years, selling them and earning profit back when her mother died and it was just her and her sister having to fend for themselves._

_Yixing pressed some tissue he had in his pocket to the birds neck and quickly made his way out of the forest and into the vast, grassy space where his grandmother's home was just on the outskirts._

_He has lived with his grandmother since he was 5, he was now 13. His mother and father had died in a massive car accident that ended their lives instantly. It was odd because Yixing felt no mourn for them, he had often asked his grandmother who came to the funeral to take him in as his only living relative, why others were crying? She seemed a little surprised but said,_

_"It's a sad occasion, Yixi, your parents are dead you're supposed to cry"._

_From then on, Yixing had thought himself as abnormal for not doing what others found to be normal. Kids at school never wanted to be around him, saying he was weird and spacey, a freak. They played tricks on him, laughed at him but Yixing always got his revenge._

_One by one those who taunted him ended up in the hospital unexpectedly, each one looking like a freak accident. He pushed one of the boys down the stairs, he made sure one of them burnt their hand on the Bunsen burner in science. He's never once felt sorry, they deserved it._

_He clambers into the back shed by the garden his grandmother grew, full of vegetables and flowers. The shed was kind of like Yixing's work place, where he brought his targets to mend on. Once he had snuck a deer into the shed after he had broken its leg. That was the most challenging._

_He placed the bird on the wooden table and laid out his makeshift tools, a tweezer, some cotton balls and water._

_"Now let's get you patched up, I promise I'm the best doctor you'll ever find" he said to the bird, who's breaths were short and shallow._

_"Don't die on me bird, keep fighting" Yixing stated dramatically as if he was acting out one of his surgeon TV shows._ _He went to work taking out the stone, washing the wound and for the finishing touch he wrapped it in a thin strip of cloth around the birds neck._

_Looking down at his work he smiled. "I did it! I told you I was the best!"_

_He picked up the bird and enthusiastically ran out the shed, heading towards the main house._

_Entering the place he's called home for eight years, he sniffed in the familiar smell of baked goods. The house was fairly small but big enough for two people, there was the standard furniture in the living room around a TV, the kitchen just behind it and down the hall were the bedrooms and bathroom._

_"Grandma! Grandma!" he shouted happily running towards the room where he new his grandma was sleeping._

_He throws open the door but as his eyes looked in front of him he stopped abruptly, dropping the bird with a thud. The small animal thrashed violently._

_There in front of him, his grandma lay still on the floor, one hand outstretched towards her door that connected to the bathroom as if she was trying to get there._

_Her pills, Yixing thought. It was time for her pills and he hadn't been there to give it to her._ _His grandma had a bad heart and was advised to take pills that helped with the condition or else a heart attack could occur._

_He looked on, sadly feeling nothing but pity for the woman whom he was supposed to take care of in turn for her taking care of him. She was much too old to raise a child but yet she took him in not wanting him to be put up for adoption._

_Yixing looked down at the bird, who was still thrashing. He lifted his foot and stepped on it, hearing the bones crack beneath the soles of his shoe._

_"Bad bird" he said._

 


	4. Episode 3: Monster

Sehun laid on his back facing the ceiling of his apartment; his arm stretched out over his head holding on to the playing card.

Where did this come from? Sehun thought to himself. He didn't recall putting this into his pocket, personally he didn't play card games. He found them quite boring so he never owned a deck, not then and not now so how?

He drops his hand to his side and heaves a sigh. What was he going to do about this case? It's grown into something even bigger now after seeing the body of that 'boy'. Sehun shook his head to clear it from the images of the mutilated body, such a grotesque thing done to an innocent human being. 

Was officer Leeteuk right? Was it OT8? Chief didn't think it was and everyone knows how he hates those eight criminals, so for him to say that must mean something.

Sehun groans aloud, stretched his arm to the left and drops the card on his bedside table "I don't know, I don't know" he chanted to himself rolling over onto his side. 

What he did know though is that him and Jeonho needed to get a solid lead, quick. Sehun had a feeling this was going to get messy.

\-------------

In a dingy alley surrounded by drunkards, chatting up more than willing woman or puking up their guts from consuming more than they could handle and sly drug dealers taking the opportunity to earn a few bucks; rested a opening in the side of a brick building. A neon sign was posted above the rectangular opening, the word 'Monster' glowing into the darkness of the dreary alleyway; a set of concrete steps led down into the sketchy area stopping by a big brown metal door where a buster stood ready to turn you back if he found you suspicious or unqualified to enter.

Inside was a complete contrast to its exterior, the high ceilings and open space that held a big crowd of people roaming around on the dance floor by the DJ stand or crowding around the bar taking shots, some having a competition on who could hold down more with people standing around cheering them on. In the vast area of the floor sat multiple different gambling tables that dealt different games from poker to the lucky wheel of roulette. 

Baekhyun sat on one of the bar stools looking out on to the gaming area. He held a glass of vodka leaning back on one elbow, his legs crossed as he observed. Baekhyun has been here more times than he himself could count but the sheer grandness of the club was always astonishing. 

Whoever owned this place must be beyond loaded he thought as he took a sip of his drink. His eyes were scanning over the crowd when he felt a touch on his forearm. Tilting his head to the side he came face to face with a handsome male, Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in question. 

"Drinking alone?" the stranger asks with a smile playing on his lips. He takes a seat next to Baekhyun who resented the fact that it wasn't already occupied. 

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Baekhyun countered, not in the mood to be hit on. 

"Nothing, you just seem like the type to be surrounded by a ton of men" the male said. 

Baekhyun took the time to observe him as he ordered his own drink; black hair falling over his forehead, a strong jawline and a slender build. And when he looked back towards Baekhyun he saw how defined and smooth his. Cheekbones were. He was handsome but not Baekhyun's type in the least, the smaller didn't miss how the others eyes glinted with mischeif. 

Baekhyun scoffed and took a swig of his drink to finish it off. "I scared them off" he said nonchalantly. 

The male goes into a fit of laughter and Baekhyun watches in wonder as he doubles over, eyes closed. It wasn't that funny, Baekhyun thought. 

"You?" he said through his fit, "you scared them off? You look like a pampered princess" he continued laughing. 

Baekhyun frowns at the male. He didn't take kindly to insults about his soft boy like features, they were the stark opposite of who he actually was. This guy was weird and Baekhyun didn't come here to entertain weird individuals, he came to earn some money. He was running low on cash and he had to pay someone back. 

He looks back out into the gaming area and his eyes immediately lands on a table occupied by some brute men. They looked to be playing a game of poker. Baekhyun watches one of the men; a bald, muscly man who dealt the cards and saw him discreetly slip one into his sleeve. 

Baekhyun smirks. A cheap trick. 

Baekhyun rests his shot glass down on the counter and gets up. Forgetting about the male beside him,

"So" the male speaks up "want to go get something to-" he looks up to see Baekhyun walking away. 

"Wait!" the male exclaims and Baekhyun's stops despite himself and glances back.

"I didn't get your name" The male straightens up, leaning on both elbows that he rested on the bar counter.

Baekhyun sighed inwardly. The smaller was annoyed by the males presence, having already anticipated what he was going to ask. He didn't come for a cheap hook up. 

"Jaehyuk" he said simply before turning around. Baekhyun makes a beeline for the table he was just observing, side stepping people who blocked his path. Once there he grabs a seat and sits down earning the curious gazes of those around the table. 

"I want to buy in" Baekhyun looks at them expectantly. 

"who the hell are you, little boy?" the same brute man he saw cheating questioned. 

The corner of Baekhyun's mouth twitched down slightly at the insult but then transformed his face quickly into a confident smirk.

"I'm someone who wants to buy in. I want to play" he urged, leaning on the table. 

The men eyed him but the bald male huffed, "fine put in your bid".

Baekhyun smiled and reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a roll of bills; he throws it into the centre of the table and all the men seemed taken aback by the amount of it. Baekhyun noticed how they all looked between each other and grinned but the smaller played oblivious. 

"So how do you play?" Baekhyun asked, feigning being new to the game. A bustle of laughter passes through the men.

"You come over here with your stack of cash and you don't even know how to play?" one of the other men chided, a muscular guy with an ugly Mohawk. "you sure you still want to play before we hand you the cards?".

"Yes" Baekhyun said, giving them a sweet smile. 

"Your loss, little boy" the bald man said, dealing him five cards. "We're playing low ball; ace to five. First to have all five cards in there hands wins, you can draw to change your hand on your turn".

Low ball? Baekhyun thought, this had to be the easiest form of poker you could play being based on pure chance and luck but then he remembered the card the bald brute tucked into his sleeve and an amused grin forms on Baekhyun's face. Well played. 

He picked up his cards and frowned a bit. He only had a 5 and the rest were two jacks, a king and a queen. Shit, Baekhyun cursed. The game starts and when it came to Baekhyun's turn, of course he drew new cards and this time he couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his lips. He had four of the right cards except for one. He new where it was and he glanced over at the bald brute who was smirking mischievously.

Baekhyun saw him flip the hidden card out of his sleeve and add it to his hand. Baekhyun had to think quickly on how he could somehow obtain it. He knew there was probably another ace in the deck but he'd have to give up his current cards for a new draw and his odds didn't look good by doing that. He looked at all the money sitting in the middle and felt a new wave of determination. 

He was probably going to regret doing this later but he really needed that money. Baekhyun didn't see any other way, he was at a disadvantage.

He got up from his seat and walked over to the bald brute who looked at him questioningly along with the others. Baekhyun took the cards from his hand gently without looking at them and placed them on the table. He had his eyes focused on the male and Baekhyun could see the uncertainty in his eyes mixed in with slight lust as his eyes worked there way down Baekhyun's body. He was wearing a fishnet top under a black leather jacket and tight black jeans, he knew he looked good; coupled with dark eyeliner and black slicked hair. 

"I can't seem to keep my eyes off of you" Baekhyun said alluringly. He saw the male gulp and Baekhyun smiled as he stood in front of him and leaned against the table, he reaches out a hand a places it on the bald brute's chest. 

"I just like guys like you, so muscular, so strong" he went on. "Why don't I buy you a drink and we can get to know each other more?". Baekhyun looked up to see a guy carrying a tray of drinks and waved him over. 

The bald man gripped Baekhyun's thigh and he almost made a face at the disgust he felt. At the same time he inched his hand behind him, touching for the man's cards. 

"little boy, do you even know what you're getting into?" the bald brute says, smirking lustfully.

 

 

 

Across the club in a booth by the dance floor an intrigued male watched on at the scene unfolding near the poker table. Observing as the men took the drinks they were offered. "Decent technique" the male said to himself watching the boy try to seduce the mucular man.

"But" he mumbled getting up, starting in their direction "that's my client".

He saunters across the floor hotly; all eyes gazing at him as he passed wearing shorts that hugged his thighs perfectly and a fitted, sleeveless shirt that showed of his toned but slender arms. He paid no mind to the bold individuals who tried to get his attention as he swayed his hips in a sinful way, teasing them. 

When he got to the table the pretty boy was already backing away to his seat but Kai wasn't going to let it slide that someone was butting in on his client just to con them out of a winning card.

He smiled sweetly at the men "hi guys" he said, slipping his arm around the pretty boys waist who was surprised and shocked but Kai kept smiling. 

"Looks like you guys were having fun, can I join?" he pulled the boy close, slipping his hand into the back pocket of his jeans. 

"No, I was just going back to sit down. I wanted to finish the game" Baekhyun said. Who the hell was this guy? And why was he violating him and his personal space?

Baekhyun did have to admit that he was extremely gorgeous, with a nice tan skin tone, pretty brown eyes and a strong jawline. His hair fell messily over his forehead but it gave him a sexy, disheveled look. 

"Of course you can join, all is welcome" the bald brute licked his lips lustfully, eyeing the new male. 

Baekhyun didn't know what to think but he didn't expect to suddenly be liplocking with a total stranger. His eyes open wide as he feels the sexy male slide his tongue into his mouth. Around him he heard the shouts of entertained men. Baekhyun gripped the ace card in his hand feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

The male broke the kiss and turned around pushing him against the table and proceeds to wiggle his butt sensually for the men now standing around them to see. More cheers erupted and Baekhyun was still at a lost as to what was happening. He looks into the face of the tanned sexy male and he smiled at him. 

"Go along with it" he whispered near his ear.

Baekhyun was confused. 

"You'll get a lot more money than what your conning for" the male smirked against his neck as he talks. 

Baekhyun looked around at the hooting men and then craned his neck back to look at the stack of money sitting on the table then back to the male. Baekhyun couldn't give up the chance and promise of more money so he composed himself and as much as he hated catering to sleazy men; put on the sexiest look he could muster. 

"You want me that bad?" he asks, sliding his hand down the tanned male's chest. "Okay, use me as you wish".

Baekhyun eased himself up on the table and pulled the sexy male between his legs and kissed him, dirtly; openly showing off their intertwining tongues, pulling the males bottom lip between his teeth and sucking on it. the stranger didn't even miss a beat, the hollering continued; even more so now. 

"Fuck yeah, it's Kai!" someone exclaimed. "You gonna give us another strip tease, baby?" the men around cheered. Kai looked out into the crowd signaling for the pretty boy to lie down on the table and he climbed up himself. 

"I'll give you something better" he said suggestively, straddling Baekhyun. "But. Your going to have to pay up; I don't entertain for free" Kai crooked his finger at them in a 'give it here' motion. 

The men all cheered and started taking out wads of cash. If Baekhyun were in a cartoon his eyes would be turning into dollar signs. Kai bent down and started unbuttoning Baekhyun's pants with his teeth causing an uproar, more people were coming over to see what was going on. Baekhyun just went along with it and gripped the males hair tightly as men through money at them. 

He wrenched Kai's head up to look at him, the males eyes twinkled with sensuality and he smirked before dipping his tongue behind the waistband of Baekhyun's boxers; the onlooking crowd went nuts. Kai then took to licking up Baekhyun's stomach, pushing his shirt up to his chest and running his hand along the exposed skin. Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn't turned on by the male with how his butt was in the air fully on display and swaying suggestively in his tight shorts or how he was really good at working his tongue. The moan that escaped the smaller was all too real as the sexy male twirled his tongue around his nipple. He really knew how to get a crowd going and Baekhyun was intrigued to say the least.

Kai came up toward Baekhyun's ear "Get ready to slip away". He then lifted his head and looked towards the crowd, "who wants a turn?". 

The chorus of cheers that came was earshattering. Kai hopped of the table and men after men came at him, waving money in his face. As Baekhyun looked on he shook his head, how can someone enjoy all this attention? He got up from the table, masked by the onslaught of people. The ace card was still in his hand and he went over to his deck and turned them over, taking out the dead card and placing the ace in its spot; showcasing that he had won. He picked up all the cash from the table and the money that had dropped on the floor from the earlier stunt.

He smirked to himself and silently thanked the sexy stranger. He glanced back at the crowd and saw the sexy guy, Kai; grinding against the bald brute who leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Baekhyun didn't miss the action of him tucking something into the back of Kai's shorts. Money?

Baekhyun shook his head, he didn't care; he already got what he came for. He began to walk away but it was a little too late as after a few steps he heard a booming, "hey!" come from behind him. He saw the bald brute looking towards him and then the poker table and Baekhyun cursed, "shit".

He was going to start running when a loud crash sounded throughout the vast space, gaining majority of the clubs attention; the DJ even cut the music. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" someone shouted and when Baekhyun looked over at the bar he saw the annoying male from before. 

"Oh shit, it's Chen!" a person exclaimed from somewhere behind the smaller. Baekhyun was taken aback at the fact that he was holding two broken bottles of liquor and standing  on top the bar counter. He pointed the crooked broken glass at a man in front of him who looked equally surprised. 

"Did you really think you could steal from me!?" and without noticed the male swung the sharp ended bottle into the others face sending him sprawling across the slightly risen level of the bar and down the few steps on to the carpeted floor of the gaming area. 

Time seemed to stop for a moment as everybody collected themselves and it soon came zooming back as a pack of men dressed in red, like the guy now agonizingly trying to get up; swarmed towards the broken bottle wielding male. He swung at them, shouting and soon everyone was roaring and yelling, fists were soon flying and chairs were being chucked. Baekhyun had to duck a few.

"Get back here, little boy!" he looked to his right to see the bald brute running towards him and again he cursed. He began to run away, sidstepping fights and ducking from flying objects. Baekhyun has witness a lot of club fights, have even been the cause of some but he was in no mood to fight anyone, this was not how he wanted tonight to go. 

Baekhyun glanced back at the brute still chasing him, two of his sidekicks following suit and he swerved around a wall going into the men's washroom. He quickly went over to one of the sinks cupboards underneath and came face to face with the duffel bag he had stashed upon earlier arrival. He put the money inside and quickly zipped it up, just as he heard bounding footsteps outside.

"Fuck". Baekhyun looked around and decided that his only option was to hide in a stall. He hid in the far one to the right, standing up on the toilet seat just as the washroom door burst open. 

"Where is that fucker?" he heard the hard voice of the bald male. "He thinks he can just steal from me and get away with it?"

Baekhyun listened as the stall on the other side was banged open.

"The pretty boy?" someone asked. Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows together at the out of placed voice. That didn't sound like one of the brutes men, that sounded like the sexy guy, Kai. Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows further, were they working together? Did he just get duped?

"Don't worry sweetheart. That guy is going to get a good pounding when I catch him".

Baekhyun continued to hear the stalls being pushed open one by one, nearing closer to him. What was he going to do? But it was too late as the bald brute final stopped in front of his stall and slammed the door open. 

Baekhyun wasted no time. He used the door and the stall wall and hoisted himself up, kicking the brute in the chest hard and making him stumble back. He dropped to the ground, ready to run but was cut off by two more brutes getting into his path; one of them being the guy with the ugly Mohawk.

"Get out of my way" he growled. 

"Give us the bag" Mohawk dude said. 

Baekhyun looked over at the sink area to see Kai sitting gracefully on the counter, smiling as if innocent. 

"You sold me out" Baekhyun stated. Kai only chuckles and crossed his arms. Just that simple action was sexy and Baekhyun scowled, he did not like this guy. 

"Well, I couldn't just let you runaway with my share; now could I?" he said "plus, I got what I wanted."

Just then a brute reached for him but Baekhyun quickly moved his hands to his waist and unhinged the knife he carried around in his belt and brought it up, not hestiating in slicing at the males hand. The brute let out a shout and retracted it as if burned. Baekhyun quickly sidestepped, bringing the knife down into the man's thigh making him shout louder at the pain.

He did the same for the second brute who had a buzz cut and just as he was about to exit the washroom, strong hands hoisted him up. He struggled against them hoping to wriggle free. 

"Let me go" he grunted.

"No way. You have something of ours and we want it back" the bald man said. 

"But I won the game, didn't you see the up facing cards?" 

"What cards? As far as I know that table is half way across the room by now" Baekhyun felt the duffel bag he was holding being ripped from his hand. 

"Give that back. I won it fair and square" he said, still struggling. 

He heard a light laugh behind him "fair and square? I saw what you were doing with that sorry excuse for seducing" Kai states. The handsome face of the bronze skinned male comes into view and Baekhyun cursed it with all his might. He had to admit, Kai got the better of him.

"I just thought it would be fun to play too". He added,

Baekhyun needed to get out of here. He felt the knife still clutched in his hand and without a second thought he lodged it into the side of the bald brute. He shouted in pain, letting go of Baekhyun but the smaller clung to the meaty arm of the man and putting all his weight to one side, forced the male to the right twisting his arm and making him fall to the floor. Baekhyun jumped up, still clutching the knife. He saw the Mohawk guy with the bag and ran toward him. He stuck the knife into his forearm making him drop the bag with a yelp. He quickly scooped it up and ran. 

Kai watched in amusement as one of the muscular males lurched forward to go after the pretty boy. He put a tentative hand to the man's chest,

"Let him go" he says before twisting his hand into a fist in the brutes shirt. He turns to them and smirks, pulling him closer "because you won't llbe alive to take revenge on him".

"Wha-" the man starts but soon doubles over clutching his chest. 

He groans before collapsing to his knees and looks up at Kai. "What did you do?" he questions. 

"You go to this club for how long? And you never once noticed there are no waiters?" Kai chuckled. "I paid someone to bring those drinks over to you; it just so happened that the boy was there trying to con you guys and gave him a solid reason to go over. The drinks you guys so happily took, were laced and they weren't mere sleeping drugs" Kai went on.

"You lasted longer than your friends though". Upon hearing that the Mohawk brute stiffly looked behind him at his partners sprawled out on the floor, not breathing.

"You're sick" he laboured out falling to his side, eyes drooping. 

"no, baby. I'm sexy" Kai stated before walking out of the washroom.

 

 

Chen was in the middle of an all out brawl and he was having the time of his life, laughing hysterically. He took the broken liquor bottles and lodged them into the chests of his attackers, instantly killing them. 

"You shouldn't have messed with me!". 

He dropped the bottles and closed his fists as more people came at him. He socked them right in the noses and they want falling back unconscious and bloody, he did low swing kicks to knock them off their feet then drove his elbow into their chests feeling their ribs break. His hands went to his waistband and unlodged the gun that resided there, pulling it out and aiming it into the crowd. He didn't hesitate to pull the trigger watching as people fell down like flies, blood splatting randomly.

"Come at me you amateurs! I'll squash you like the insects you are" Chen laughed; the sound carrying through the now chaotic space.


	5. Episode 4: Welcome To the Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi :) are you guys enjoying the book so far? Because it's a joy to write, stay tuned for more chapters.

Sehun and Jeonho sat at a table in a fairly bustling cafe. The space was very calming with its light colours of white and pale yellow. The two had come there to sort out a way to get on with their case. 

"Should we try Dr. Zhang, again?" Jeonho suggested, taking a sip of his coffee. 

Sehun sighed, "you think he'll see us twice? Plus we'd have to scrounge up a warrant to even search his office and workspace. We were just being bold last time, Chief would've had our heads".

"Yeah, you're right. Dr. Zhang seemed to be innocent, anyway" Jeonho said.

Sehun nodded then frowned slightly, "but I also got this feeling like he was keeping something from us. Like he was lying" he looked at his partner. 

"You think he was lying about being part of OT8? That he didn't know who they were?" Jeonho questioned. 

"I don't know" Sehun shook his head "but there's this" he reached into the pocket of his jeans and reveals the playing card. 

"A card?" his partner looks on, confused. 

"I found it in my pocket the other night at the office. I kept wondering how it even got there until I thought back to when we went and sought out Dr. Zhang" Sehun informs. "I remembered him patting my chest before he left".

"You think it was him?" Jeonho asks.

"No one else would make sense but what I don't get, is why? Why put such a thing in my pocket?" Sehun places the card in between them and they both stare at it. 

"It is pretty weird; then again that was a reaccuring thought concerning the doctor" Jeonho states. Sehun couldn't agree more. 

"I think we should go back" Sehun speaks up. Jeonho raises his eyebrows at the older.

"But not to talk to Dr. Zhang; His assistant, the one that came in before we could get more questions in."

Jeonho slowly nods, mulling it over. "She would have a deeper insight to the doctor than him himself."

 

 

Kyungsoo watched them from his table a couple feet behind them. He could tell they were policemen even if they were not in uniform, the outline of the gun was visible behind the taller ones jacket. Kyungsoo took a sip of his tea as he weighed his options not fond of the new challenge they posed. If he went along with his plan and it went perfectly, which he believed it would then they would pose no threat but being the police they would probably be skeptic of the sudden ordeal. More than anything Kyungsoo wished he could go over and just snap their necks and proceed without much conflict; He considered that option but decided against it, he did not want to entertain the idea of having a bigger target on his back than there already was.

He set his cup back down on to the table and waved a waiter over. A lanky boy stalked over to him, wearing the cafe's uniform of a plain white T-shirt with their logo; a yellow flower with elegant print underneath spelling out 'Blooming Days' and black pants. He was carrying a tray of hot tea with a bowl of sugar cubes as he came face to face with the short male. 

"Can I help you?" the lanky boy smiled brightly. Kyungsoo could tell it was his first day on the job, poor guy he thought, if he cared Kyungsoo would have thought twice about using him; but he did not

"Yes" Kyungsoo said. "can you scream for me?" 

The kid looked at him confused but before he could even question the male, Kyungsoo took the metal spout that was holding the hot tea and threw the contents on the boy. He reared back, dropping the tray in a hurry and Kyungsoo swiftly tripped him. The boy fell to the ground screaming and clawing at his face as the hot tea burned him. Kyungsoo stood up and fixated his face into shock and worry. 

"Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed. 

Everyone in the shop looked over at the debacle; the screaming, thrashing boy; the spilt tea and everyone gasped collectively. Kyungsoo looked around frantically as some of the employees came rushing over. All the customers got up out of their seats to come over and see what was going on. Kyungsoo noticed the two officers quickly coming over as well. 

"What happened!?" an employee asked looking up at Kyungsoo while trying to help the others calm the boy. Someone was already on the phone calling 911.

"I do not know! He was coming over after I called for more tea and he tripped" Kyungsoo lied through his teeth showing fake concern. "Will he be okay?"

"Is there anything we could do?" everyone looked at the two policemen. "We're from the police department" the tall one stated showing them his badge before crouching down to look at the boy who's skin was blistered and red. 

"We just called 911 for an ambulance" a customer with her two kids stated. 

The shorter policeman nodded "good, let's get him up and sit him at a table".

Kyungsoo switched gears. "I will go get some napkins to clean the mess and wipe him off" he quickly brushes past the two officers and as he walked away his face fell back into the cold resting stare it always sported. 

At the counter, he grabbed a handful of napkins but then looked back at the occupied crowd and swiftly dipped behind the counter. He needed to hurry. He went over to the cash register just as a person emerges from the back, her eyes widened at the male but Kyungsoo did not have time to waste, he quickly reached out to cover her mouth; placed his hand by her neck and twisted in a sharp motion feeling her go limp. 

He turned around and hopes the commotion diagonal of him drown the noise of the register as he opens it, taking all the money out and shoving it into his pocket. He then slid back around the counter not having time to hide the body but it didn't matter to him because he'll be out of here and gone before those two policemen even noticed. Kyungsoo goes back over and hands the employees the handful of napkins he got, the tall officer held his hand out for some and looked Kyungsoo in the eyes for the first time. 

Sehun had never seen such bold and lifeless eyes before and he was taken aback, wasn't this the guy who was shouting in shock before? He watched him as his face transformed into a smile and his eyes shone, did he imagine it? Sehun didn't notice that he was gripping the napkins too long before the male spoke in a smooth low voice.

"Take it, you should help him". He had a very distinct look of short cut black hair, big eyes with full features and equally full lips; Sehun would mistake him for a middle schooler if it weren't for the mature air coming from him. Sehun nodded taking the napkins and copied everyone in patting off the burned male who was groaning in agony, Sehun felt sorry for the kid. 

A few seconds later the sirens of the ambulance came blaring up the street, paramedics burst into the shop with a gurney and Sehun along with some employees helped get the boy on to it. Kyungsoo watched in cold amusement as they wheeled the man outside and he followed behind. While the officers were preoccupied with the paramedics and the employees were reassuring the customers he walked by the gurney with the kid on it.

Kyungsoo saw his blistered and swollen eyes look over at him and the short male watched the boy. "You did good" he says to him but Kyungsoo knew this was the sloppiest robbery he has ever done. He was hasty and did not think most of it through; he was not calculative enough, questions would be asked and soon he will be sought out.

The oxygen mask over the boys face made it hard for him to speak and all Kyungsoo got were muffled sounds. He knew he should kill the boy but he was in no position to do so with police and witnesses so near. Kyungsoo settled with bringing his hand up in a chopping motion and bringing it down a top the boy's esophagus, knowingly demaging it. The male holding fear in his eyes, clawed at his throat as Kyungsoo turned and slipped away down the street and around the corner.

 

Sehun looked back at the store and Jeonho joined his side after speaking with some of the medics. The boy had severe burns but they will quickly get him to the hospital to tend to him which brought back the idea that him and Sehun had to get going as well.

"What's wrong?" Jeonho asked, knowing the look of his partner when he had questions but no answers.    

"Something I can't put my finger on" Sehun says. "The boy tripped but when we went over there nothing he could've tripped on was present".

"Didn't that guy say?" Jeonho turned to face Sehun who still looked thoughtful, "some guys are just clumsy, Sehun".

Speaking of which, where is that guy? Sehun looked around trying to spot him out but he didn't see the short male anywhere all he saw was the thinning crowd of customers dispersing and the ambulance racing down the street. Did he leave to? Just then a thought came to Sehun,

"The manager, where's the stores manager?" he turned to Jeonho who shrugged. "I didn't see anyone that looked like a manager come out" he stated. 

Sehun looked over at the group of employees already walking back inside and he left his partners side to jog over to them. 

"Excuse me!" he called and they all look in his direction. "Where is your manager? Wouldn't they want to know about this ordeal?"

One of the boy employees spoke up, an average sized guy with freckles and pale skin. "She had to step out before everything went down and left me in charge."

"Would you mind if we helped you clean up the rest of the mess?" Sehun asked and the employees shook their heads. 

Jeonho came over and put a hand on Sehun's shoulder "we need to get to the hospital, we can't waste time; we have a case to attend to." Sehun patted his partners hand.

"I just want to ease my suspicions, it won't take long" he states following the workers inside, Jeonho sighed but followed. 

They all went to the disaster scene, to pick up the fallen spout and scattered sugar cubes while also cleaning up the rest of the spilt tea. An employee brought a mop over and mopped the area. It didn't take long as Sehun had predicted and his suspicions were almost squashed when he heard a scream come from the counter. Everyone looked over and saw one of the girl employees covering her mouth in shock as she looked at something on the door behind the counter. They all quickly went over and equally gasped at the sight. There, lying on the floor was a woman; her neck twisted and her chest still. 

"That's her" the pale freckled boy spoke, "that's our manager." Sehun and Jeonho looked at each other in wonder and concern. 

"Your suspicion was right" Jeonho looked back down at the dead woman and Sehun nodded, sadly. 

"Who could've done this?" the girl who spotted the body voiced out and the others wondered the same. They all look over at the two policemen. Sehun racked his brain before things clicked. The fact that there wasn't anything the male could've tripped so hard on, clumsy or not, the body behind the counter, the male who witnessed the whole ordeal; the one with the cold eyes who transformed so quickly Sehun thought he'd imagined it. 

"The guy" Sehun voiced simply and Jeonho creased his eyebrows along with everyone else.

"The one from before? The short cut guy who witnessed everything? What's he got to do with it?" his partner questioned and Sehun smiled. 

"He said he would go get napkins right?" Sehun looked at Jeonho expectantly and he nodded. "And you noticed how there are already napkin dispensers on most of the tables?" Jeonho nodded again. 

"Well, as he brushed passed I noticed him go into the direction of the front counter" Sehun pointed to the dispenser by the bowl of small pastries. "But why go all the way here when there were closer ones? Someone check the register" Sehun instructed. 

The girl went over and opened the money compartment only to come face to face with a empty register. Sehun smiled, he was right. Jeonho looked at his partner and smiled along, patting him on the back. "That's why you're the head detective".

Truthfully it wasn't because of Sehun's detective skills that made him figure it out; as they were all cleaning Sehun looked around and noticed all the left behind clues. The perpetrator had been sloppy, If the male would've been more atoned to detail Sehun would've left blind to the fact that there was anything wrong. 

It was the second time they had to call 911 to the shop and Sehun told the employees to go home and clear their minds from such a hectic shift. 

"We let him get away" Jeonho sighs as they drive away from the shop. "Are you sure it was him?" 

"We're going to the hospital, I'm pretty sure it was but we can ask the boy for a confirmation plus robbers always show their faces again". Sehun stated.

\---------------

The two detectives reach the hospital and go to check on the boy, they wanted to speak to him and get a confirmation but the nurses said he suffered from a damaged Larynx; he was lucky to get here quickly for a hasty operation but he won't be able to speak anytime soon. 

Sehun found that odd and out of blue, was his trip that bad? He felt bad for the boy but he couldn't dwell on it as they came to the hospital for another reason. Him and Jeonho go over to the front desk secretary, the woman recognizes the men as they approach.

"Sorry but Dr. Zhang is out" she says matter-of-factly before going back to her computer screen. 

"Oh, we're not here for Dr. Zhang. We're here to speak to his assistant" Jeonho informs. 

The woman looks at them surprised and a little confused at their request. "What's your purpose with Ms. Wendy?" she asks. 

"We want to speak to her on some confidential matters and we have no time to waste, so of you could please lead us to her?" Sehun said straightly. 

She hesitated a bit before picking up the phone a little ways from the computer and pages for the assistant. The two exchange a few words before the secretary hangs up.

"She's in the medicine room, sorting out the stocks. It's down that way", the woman points behind the two detectives at a hallway. "Turn the corner and it's the door at the end".

The two man thank her and get on their way. They follow the secretary's direction and soon stand face to face with a steel door, they rap on the door twice before Dr. Zhang's assistant opens the door and peers at the two men. She was a short lady who had her brunette hair in a ponytail and wore nurse scrubs which confused Sehun, wasn't she just an assistant? She opens the door a little further to let them both in. 

The medicine room was a big, steel space, with lots of shelves on every wall, even individual cases placed in rows; they all held different kinds of medicine. Sehun walked by and scanned the bottles, some with clear or tar black liquid. Wendy went about sorting a cart full of yellow liquid bottles while the two males looked around astonished. Sehun picked up one of the bottles; this one holding a pink liquid and Sehun raised and eyebrow, the label red ' _M_ _ishap in the laundry machine'_.

"There sure are a lot of medicines I've never heard of" Sehun says and Jeonho voices his agreement. 

"That's because Dr. Zhang makes mostly all the medicine the hospital uses". Wendy answered instantly while paying attention to the bottles in her hand, reading the labels. 

Sehun raised an eyebrow, he does? Is he even qualified to be making medicine? Does he really use these on patients? "is that so?".

"Yes" she answers.

"Is he qualified to be making medicine for patients? Isn't he just a mere surgeon, there specialty isn't exactly medicine making" Jeonho states exactly what Sehun was thinking. 

"Dr. Zhang has been making medicine since he was young, it's something his grandmother taught him as she herself specialized in the art" Wendy continued to answer with no halt moving from one shelf to the next. 

Sehun couldn't help observing that she was very attentive and quick spoken. "So what exactly does ' _M_ _ishap in the laundry machine'_ mean?".

"And _'Dragon breath'_? Sounds like a potion out of a witch movie" Jeonho adds. 

"They mean stomach ache and burning sore throat" Wendy said, placing the last of the yellow liquid bottles on the shelf. She then turns to Sehun and Jeonho and suddenly stalks over to them, snatching the bottles out of their hands and placing them back into their spots.

"Don't touch anything" she said strictly. 

"Sorry" both men say. "But why not just name them those simple names?" Sehun asked actually intrigued. 

"Dr. Zhang isn't one to do simple things just because they're simple. He has more of an eccentric mind" Wendy puts her hands on her hips. "Now stay close to me and no more touching. Anything being mixed up will cause big problems" she turns around and goes over to another cart that now had red liquid bottles. 

As Sehun and Jeonho do as their told the taller looks around again and noticed that everything is colour coded. Wow Sehun thought, this was actually pretty amazing, Dr. Zhang was quite a surgeon. 

"So if you're an assistant, why are you doing things like this? Shouldn't this be the nurses jobs?" Jeonho questions.

"Because, I'm the only one along with a few other nurses I trained that know what the labels represent. And I'm no mere assistant, why do you think I'm wearing nurses scrubs; I'm also working as a nurse" she informs them. Sehun's mouth opens into and 'O' shape as he gets it. 

"May I ask you guys something?" Wendy turns to them and they both stop. "Sure, yes" Sehun answers. 

"Why exactly did you request to see me?" her eyes narrow. 

Sehun cringed under her stare, this lady was very intimidating. He can see why Dr. Zhang has her as his assistant. "Well, we thought you could give us a closer insight to Dr. Zhang than himself, being his assistant and all". Her eyes narrowed further. "We're still on his case along with a few others and you seemed like the next best option".

"I think it's best you go, you'll get nothing more from me" she says matter-of-factly, stacking the red liquid bottles. Maybe Sehun shouldn't have been so honest but he saw no point in lying when they were quite desperate at the moment.

Just then Sehun felt a tap on his chest and he looked over at his partner who pointed to his far right. Sehun followed where he was pointing and saw another metal door In the open part of the wall. Sehun raised his eyebrow, is that the storage for the medicine? He gave a questioning look to Jeonho who just pointed again, this time Sehun saw the 'do not enter' sign. That piqued the tallers interest. 

"What's behind that door?" Sehun asked Wendy. 

"Nothing that concerns you" she answers right away without even glancing back. Wow this girl was sharp, Sehun thought.

"Is it a storage area?" Jeonho chimed in. 

"Of sorts" she answered simply which made Sehun question the door more. "You guys should really leave now seeing as there was no real reason to request me, other than to ask me unnecessary questions in an otherwise restricted area".

Sehun really wanted to see what was behind that door and he didn't see a way to with Wendy being here, all eyes and ears despite not paying attention to you. She continued to usher them out until they were standing back out into the hallway and Sehun felt dejected.

"Now leave, hospitals aren't for detectives to play around in" she says closing the door. 

"Now what? That door seemed suspicious" Jeonho says and Sehun nodded. Just then Sehun saw a nurse coming down the hall going straight for the metal door and an idea springs into his head. 

"let's get in" he said to Jeonho. "But how?" his partner voiced. Sehun points to the nurse opening the metal door. 

Jeonho nods in understanding and they both quickly shuffle behind a wall on the opposite side of the door and waited. As soon as the nurse put her lanyard to the door and it beeped, she opened the door and went in. Sehun ran quickly to catch the door before it locked, not enough to give warning to those inside but so they could slip in unnoticed. Jeonho went first then Sehun and they quickly hide behind one of the many shelves. 

They see the nurse and Wendy at the far ending of the room exchanging words and the door was just a little ways from where Sehun and Jeonho squatted. They slip around the shelf and crouch, quickly running over to the door and safely out of view from the two women. 

"Shit" Sehun whispers seeing that the door needed a key card. He looks around frantically, hearing some footseps coming by there way. 

"There's one" he hears Jeonho whisper. Sehun looked over at the cart he's pointing at and it so happened to be the one Wendy was rolling around that held the red liquid bottles, some still sitting on the metal surface; she must've forgotten it there, it was like luck was on their side. 

"Hurry, get it" Sehun encourages, hearing shuffles by the short wall that hid them sparingly.

Jeonho quickly sprints over and grabs it, coming back and sliding it through the card swipe and they see the red light turn green as the door unlocks. Still crouched they open the door and slip inside leaving the door slightly opened. The lucky feeling dispersed as Sehun and Jeonho get up from their crouching position and their eyes widen in horror at what sat in the room. 

Sitting on wooden shelves were jars on jars of body parts, some sitting in bloody water or green formaldehyde. "What the hell is this!?" Jeonho voiced his disgust. 

They continue to look around feeling the coolness of the room. They come across hearts, livers, kidneys and even intestines. As Sehun turns a small corner he almost throws up seeing chopped off hands and feet sitting in the jars, looking as grotesque as the whole situation was. 

"Sehun look" he hears Jeonho behind him. He turns around to see his partner looking up at the top of a shelf, he does the same and if possible his eyes widen more in surprise. At the top of the shelf sat a whole human torso still looking fresh.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" the two hear an angry voice come from behind them and they whip around to see Wendy. "I told you this room was none of your concern".

"What are we doing!? How about you, why the hell do you have all these body parts locked up in here!?" Sehun voiced incredulously "this is sick!".

"Hey Wendy I'm back to-" a voice carries into the room and the three that were already there turn around to see Dr. Zhang standing there. 

"Boss!" Wendy exclaimed. Sehun watches as the doctors face slowly move from a blank expression and twist to form a crazed grin. 

"Oh. You caught me" he said simply and the smile doesn't falter.

"So all those claims were true. You killed your patients" Jeonho says also visably in disbelief and disgust at the situation. 

Sehun suddenly springs into action as he unhooks the cuffs he had connected to his waist. Dr. Zhang didn't move a muscle or try to run he stood there and held out his arms to the approaching Sehun. 

"I didn't kill all of them, only the ones that deserved it" he stated. 

"Dr. Zhang you are under arrested and all words you say can and will be used against you in the court of law" Sehun recited his rights as he clipped the metal rings firmly around the doctors wrists. "And no one deserves to die" the taller whispered angrily as he spun the doctor around, pushing him out the room. 

"Are you sure about that, Detective oh? I'm sure you're thinking that I should fall to the same fate for this" Dr. Zhang says and Sehun falters a bit at the surprisingly accurate claim Of the hipocrisy of his thoughts. 

Out in the hall as they past by, onlookers looked on in confusion and wonder as to why the miracle surgeon,  Dr. Zhang was being escorted out in handcuffs. Yixing smiled at them all, not seemingly worried at all and that rubbed Sehun the wrong way, he felt disrespected as a policemen. 

"Boss!" Wendy followed and called from behind them. Yixing looked back as best as he could in his position and continued smiling that crazed smile. 

"Don't worry, Wendy. Hold down the fort until I return" Yixing says. Sehun pushed him forward "You won't be coming back". 

"no, I'm coming with you" Wendy continued to follow just as the secretary from the desk blocked their path. The humming crowd of curious onlookers from nurses, to doctors, to other surgeons; even visitors, grew. 

"Where do you think you're taking Dr. Zhang?" she frowns at Sehun and Jeonho who was trying to keep Wendy at bay who wasn't having it. 

"Step aside ma'am, we have evidence to take Dr. Zhang into custody upon claims that have been connected to him" Sehun said. 

"Those claims are years old and have never been comfirmed" she stubbornly folds her arms not moving. Sehun sighed. "Ma'am, we've just confirmed them".

The older woman looks at them with an incredulous look and so do the people around them who knew about the claims put on the doctor. Yixing didn't falter though, he gave a hearty laugh, "being hands on is the best way to develop medecine".

"You have many capable surgeons here, you don't need a piece of trash leading them" Sehun says before walking again, brushing past a still astonished secretary and out on to the open street where he had parked their car. He pushed Dr. Zhang in to the backseat and Wendy followed suit climbing in after. Sehun looked at Jeonho who shrugged, 

"She insisted" he said. Sehun sighed and went around to get into the drivers seat, Jeonho got in on the passenger side. 

"You foolish girl, we're not going on a vacation we are going to jail" Yixing stated to Wendy, who sat cross armed. "Well I was in on it too, so I should be arrested also" she said stubbornly to which Yixing chuckled.

Sehun pulled out looking at the overhead mirror into the back. He didn't understand the woman, she could be off with no charge but chose to follow her boss to prison. Did they have a thing? Sehun thought but then he thought back to the room full of live body parts of who Dr. Zhang had killed. Sehun didn't think that man knew what love was, taking those people from their families. 

The sound of a ringing phone sounded throughout the car and Sehun signaled for Jeonho to answer it. His partner reached over and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" Sehun answered. 

"Detective Oh" Chief said on the other line. "We need you to come downtown quick; it's urgent".

"What's the situation?" Sehun questioned. There's a long paused before the Chief answered, "there's been a murder".

Sehun and Jeonho look at each other and Sehun picks up speed, making a wide U turn and heading in the opposite direction. "Now it's getting interesting!" he hears the doctor say from the backseat. 

\---------------

The crowd wasn't hard to spot but Sehun found it hard to find a place to park. They were near one of downtowns many brick apartments with the iron fire escapes. He saw the news vans with some of Ilcan's most seen on TV reporters standing outside the crowd recording their footage. Sehun recognized the police cars and ambulances and the two detectives exit the car, leaving the two criminals inside. They both try and weave their way to the front where they can see the police standing by as some kept the people at bay and others surveyed the crime scene. 

Sehun spotted Chief standing by with officer Leeteuk and he makes a beeline for them. "Chief what happened?" Sehun asked as he neared. The older man looks at him with a grim expression and looks at the fire escape. Sehun followed his stare and gasped. 

Tied to the iron bars were four bloody bodies with a noose around their neck. Two males and two women, they were stripped of their clothing and left to dangle at the edge from the highest platform. "What the fuck" Sehun voiced. 

"This is so sick" Jeonho said disgusted. 

"We got a call from someone anonymous, telling us about this crime scene; we found it suspicious but couldn't trace the number" officer Leeteuk spoke up beside Chief.

"And look" the head male said holding up something to Sehun. "What's this?" he questioned taking the blank white card save for some letters. 

"Read it" Chief said simply. Sehun looked at the card closer reading it's contents. 

 _Fear_ _is creeping._

"What does this even mean?" Jeonho voiced as confused as Sehun. 

"That's what we're trying to figure out" Chief said honestly, "but what we can say, though; is that this person and the guy who sent the box of the mutilated body are the same".

Sehun couldn't believe what he was seeing, two times in one day he's seen something so fucked up. What is this city coming to?

"OT8 are getting out of hand" they all look towards officer Leeteuk. "They need to be stopped, detective Oh have you made any progress yet?"

"I still don't think they are behind this" Chief interjected and officer Leeteuk scowled. "Chief! You can't be serious! Look at what they're doing!". He points to the lynched, naked bodies. 

Sehun didn't know what to think but after seeing the things Dr. Zhang has been keeping secret, he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"Chief, why don't you think it's them? Wouldn't it make the most sense?". Chief looked at Sehun as if he was talking nonsense, "would it, Detective Oh?" he asks. "Are they the only criminals out there?" .

Sehun was taken aback by his tight tone and looked to the ground as if scolded by his father. "I don't know, I just have this feeling that someone else is behind this, someone bigger and sinister" Chief stated. 

"We captured one" Jeonho suddenly spoke up beside Sehun and the taller looks at his partner "We captured one of the OT8".

Both officer Leeteuk and Chiefs eyes bulged out of their head at the news. "Really?" the head exclaims. 

"He did not confess to being part of them" Sehun chimed in but Jeonho waved him off. "I bet that was a lie too, his file was in our box; he has to be one of them".

"Where is he?" Chief asked already walking in the direction of the crowd still looking on. Jeonho followed, "in the car".

The four of them walk in the direction of the street but something catches Sehun's attention. He looks to his left to see more people coming to see what the commotion was about but what caught his attention was the small male wearing tight denim jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket standing by the brick building, extending his hand to each individual that came over to collect the money they held out to him. Sehun frowned. 

"Hey!" he called earning the attention of some onlookers and ultimately the small male. 

He whipped around in his direction at the shout and Sehun couldn't help thinking how pretty he was. He had nice pale skin, a nice build; black slicked hair and soft features. Sehun saw the tenseness of his shoulder and he knew then that the boy was going to run. The small male turned around and began sprinting off, Sehun took to chasing after him immediately.

"Stop!" he shouted. He saw the male make an abrupt turn into an alley and Sehun chases after only to stop short feeling cold metal at his neck. 

"Don't move or I slice" he heard the soft voice of the smaller. Sehun put his hand up in surrender and spoke, "why were you taking money from those people?" he asked getting straight to the point.

The boy stood beside him and scoffed "I was just giving them a little entry fee".

Sehun looked to his right slightly still pinned to his spot by the males knife. "You were conning them" he said. "Yeah, so what's it to you? Officer" he laced the word with sarcasm removing the knife briefly to tap the badge Sehun wore on his chest. 

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows, brain turning as he put two and two together. He thinks back to the one file they had on a conman and Sehun gasped. "OT8, you're part of OT8!" he states tunring to face the male who pressed the cold knife harder into his neck. 

"I said, don't move or I slice and what the fuck is OT8?" the male questioned looking at him menacingly. Sehun's face falls at the realization that this male was capable of killing him in an instant. 

As if he knew the detective was going to swing, the male blocked the fist quickly but Sehun's other hand came up to grip the one holding the knife and forced it away. The male quickly brought the knife down, cutting Sehun's jacket sleeve and leaving a shallow cut on his forearm.

"Not bad, officer" the boy said. He pushed away from Sehun before spinning around to stand behind him already swiftly going for the stab but Sehun was quick as he grabbed his hand forcefully wrenching it behind his back and turning him around so he could push him up against the wall.

The male groaned as his face pressed against hard brick. "Wow officer, if you wanted a quick fling then you should've said so" Sehun could feel the smirk of the male even if he couldn't see it. 

Sehun was going to take the knife out of the males hand but he made a mistake by letting his guard down because the boy suddenly kicked his foot back hitting Sehun right in the groin and he instantly let the boy go to coil over in pain. 

Baekhyun was not going to let such a dweeb take him in, he turned around and swung his leg out catching the officer in the back of his legs making him fall to his knees on the concrete. He looked up at Baekhyun; eyes wide as the smaller gripped the knife, turning it over so the butt of it faced forward and swung It towards the officers neck but just as he was going to hit the males pressure point to knock him unconscious, the knife shot out of Baekhyun's hand and a pain shoots through the limb. 

Baekhyun looks beside him to see another officer, this time one dressed in the traditional outfit. He had very pointed features but handsome nonetheless. "Shit" Baekhyun cursed and turned to run away but the officer grabbed a hold of his arm and forced him to the ground. 

Baekhyun struggled but to no avail. "You're under arrest" the officer stated and Baekhyun felt the cold metal of the handcuffs clipping around his wrist. 

How the hell did he get this unlucky? He was trying to earn some cheap cash. They take Baekhyun back to where the now thining crowd was and pushed him towards a silver van. The officer in the beige coloured jacket opens the back door and Baekhyun's eyes open in surprise. 

"Lay!?" Baekhyun exclaimed. The doctor looked over and gave him a serious stare before a grin appeared on his face. One Baekhyun knew too well. 

"Welcome to the party".

 


	6. File Unlocked: Kyungsoo

Do Kyungsoo 

January 12 1993

 Brains

 

_Kyungsoo sat on the white carpeted floor of the grand living room. This area and much like the rest of the house was kept spotless; on one hand it was because there was no-one around to make a mess of such a big space and the other being the labour of the working maids. The black leather couches were positioned around him while facing him was a unlit fireplace harbouring a big flat screen TV above the marble made object._

_Kyungsoo had the television turned to the news channel while he freely read his physics textbook that one of the many maids had gotten him and did his homework as the anchors droned on about tax raises and declining money worth. Kyungsoo did not know why it was so hard for people to oblige to paying taxes, it was essential to keep the city running or else they would all be living in a dump; much like it was already turning out be. He pushed up his glasses and read on about 'Two-dimensional Motion'._

_Yoona, the maid who was tasked in taking care of the small boy popped her head in to check on him already knowing he still had his head stuck in the book. Her lips curled into a smile at the sight; she had two boys of her own but neither of them was diligent in studying as the young master was. She had brought them over once thinking Kyungsoo could maybe rub off on them and tutor them in a few things but they had come back to her crying saying 'Kyungsoo was a monster'. She had asked the boy what had happened and he had said simply, 'I can't teach defectives'. Yoona had not really understood the young master but that was always a reoccurring prospect to the boy._

_"Kyungsoo?" the maid called as she approached the small boy. He didn't look up from his book. "Kyungsoo" she said again tapping him on his shoulder and he finally looked up, narrowing his eyes._

_"You are interrupting me" he said a hint of annoyance to his voice and Yoona was taken aback by the forwardness of the boy. He was usually quiet and when he did speak it was something none of the maids understood but never disrespectful._

_"I'm sorry, I have a message from your parents who just called" she stated and Yoona saw the boys eyes lighten ever so slightly. "They aren't coming home tonight. They are swamped at work"._

_Yoona saw the tiny light in his eyes crash into a dark glare and her heart rate picked up, she has never seen a small child hold so much hardness in their stare, even his shoulders went rigid. Kyungsoo looked away and back to his textbook._

_"Are not" he says and Yoona raises and eyebrow in confusion, "excuse me?" she questions._

_Kyungsoo kept reading as he answers. "It isn't 'aren't', it's 'are not'" he turned to her then and she gasped lightly, the look in his eyes was piercing as if it was drilling a hole into her. "Have you not been to school? why are you so illiterate? The whole lot of you". He said with contempt._

_Yoona looked on astonished and offended before making her way out of the living room without another word, worried and frightened for the little boy who wore such dead eyes. She didn't know what or when it happened but that was not the young master she used to see walking around with his nose stuck innocently into a book._

_Kyungsoo despised conjoined words used just to shorten ones sentence. He never understood why humans felt the need to take the short way in everything they do, nothing good ever came of it and in the worst case you become a maid with no literate trait. Kyungsoo felt beyond angry, he wanted to break something and smash it to pieces; his mom and dad have not been home in over a month and if they did step foot in the house Kyungsoo would never know because he was either sleeping or woke up to them being gone. They even missed his eighth birthday two weeks ago and ended up sending him a cheap gift of hand crafted toy cars when he remembered specifically asking them for a 'Celestron 80mm Ambassador Telescope'; he had gotten into the world of astronomy and wanted to discover different stars._

_Kyungsoo did not know why he got his hopes up even in the slightest of them coming home today over any other day. Kyungsoo has grown to be mad at his parents for neglecting him and has become used to them being gone; it was like he lived alone. He leaned over to the left adjusting himself on the carpet having sat there for a bit too long but as he did that his butt squashed the remote changing the channel to a random network._

_"Next up; How I Killed my Parents" the TV announcer informed. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, was that really the title? He asked himself._

_Kyungsoo felt intrigued as to what type of content this show could have and when it started he sat there thinking it was just another scripted show like those about people having paranormal encounters. But as Kyungsoo watched on he felt more and more intrigued as they talked about kids who have murdered their parents, what happened and why they did it; having relatives speak to the camera about what they knew. Soon Kyungsoo became hooked; his textbook and homework forgotten as he leaned his elbows on his knees and watched, taking everything in._

_From then on Kyungsoo never missed another episode, he made sure to do all his homework and reading before the show was scheduled to air. Each story was interesting on how and why these kids chose to kill their parents; at first Kyungsoo sympathised with the parents having such messed up kids that would even think to do that to them but after some time he leaned more towards the children's side and found himself agreeing with what they did, even silently cheering them on and backing their plan and actions as they gruesomely murdered their parents._

_Something had switched in Kyungsoo as it became part of his routine to be entertained by the show and Yoona saw it each time they had an encounter; the way he would yell at her and offend her with his smart wit, the way he looked at her as if stalking her every move and each time she would feel a chill run up her spine and he had even started locking himself in his bedroom. Yoona didn't know what was going on but she knew it felt wrong._

_She soon become frightened and alarmed at the boy when Yoona found him in the kitchen one day playing with one of the many knifes, stabbing at the air aggressively but what made her heart pound was the way he smiled, menacing and wild. He had turned to see her and she jumped but he just tilted his head and asked,_ _"Is this the sharpest one?"._

_Kyungsoo has come to despise his parents gradually each day their bed stayed unused. He would go in and look around, sometimes even smashing things before leaving. He would go back to a tidy room but he would repeat the process, relishing in the heat that clawed at his stomach ready to tear out at the thought of them._

 

 

 

_It was a gloomy rainy day. Kyungsoo sat at the table, all the maids were off accept the one maid who his parents put in charge of him; Kyungsoo never took the liberty to learn her name. She usually stayed over, having her own guest room on long time frames when Kyungsoo's parents did not come home. Kyungsoo used to feel sorry over the fact that he kept her away from her boisterous, noisy sons but he did not care anymore, he did not care for much of anything anymore._

_"Kyungsoo, please eat your vegetables and do not forget you need to bathe after" the maid spoke while washing the dishes. Kyungsoo had told her he would no longer listen if she did not speak in full sentences and stop using shortened words._

_Kyungsoo said nothing just as they heard the sound of the front door open and close. Kyungsoo watched as the maid questioned who it could be with the way she set her body; Kyungsoo didn't know when but he had started to pick up on and accurately read people's body language, watching and analyzing as if_ _in any moment he would strike. The maid turned the corridor that lead to the front door and Kyungsoo heard her speaking with two other people and seconds after the maid was coming back with a male and woman behind her._

_Kyungsoo's parents._

_Kyungsoo saw them stride in, smiling in his direction and his mother held her arms open as if to allow him to run and hug her but Kyungsoo stayed where he was. He saw his mother's face fall and look up at his father who also looked puzzled. "Kyungsoo is everything alright, sweetie?" his mother asked coming over and patting his head._

_Kyungsoo hated it; her touch, her voice filled with concern. How could they act as if nothing was wrong like they have not been gone for so long. Kyungsoo said nothing and his parents took to addressing the maid to which she shrugged and informed them that he's been acting strange for some time now._

_"Kiddo, we brought you someth-" his father started but Kyungsoo stood up from his seat and silently walked passed them as if they didn't exist._

_Kyungsoo never came back down stairs or left his room even when his parents knocked so they could talk having heard from the maid that he was most likely upset at their lengthy absence but Kyungsoo could not care less about what his parents did anymore. He opened the drawer in his desk pulling out a cloth wrapped object; it was the knife he had been practicing with in the kitchen that day, since then he had sharpened it and kept it hidden. Kyungsoo grinned to himself at the sight of the metal object, his parents faces came to mind and the heat that's been attacking him burned deep and low._

_"You will see how it is to be forgotten and left behind" he mumbled to himself._

_Later that night while everyone was sleeping, his parents in their long time vacant bed for once, he went about his plan. He crossed the hall towards the maids room with a handful of his parents pictures from their many photo albums. The maid had went home on account of his parents being home so he freely entered. The room was big like the others but he saw that the maid had arranged it to be more homely and cozy with the knitted quilt, photos of her family on the dresser some of her cosmetics sat on the vanity and stray clothes hung up in the closet or folded on the shelf above. Kyungsoo took a pen from his pocket and went over to the vanity where he scribbled all over the pictures; crossing out his parents faces or putting X's over their eyes and Kyungsoo taped them all over the mirror like a collage, sticking a few darts into them he got from the game room Kyungsoo never used._

_He then went around the house picking up valuable trinkets and placing them under the maids pillow or bed even some of his moms jewelry he had taken hours before when his parents had been drinking tea downstairs. Finally he made his way across the hall, his heart thumping with adrenaline as he pushed open his parents door slowly seeing their sleeping forms outlined under the covers. He crept into the room clutching the knife the took out of his back pocket and he climbed up on the bed like a predator to his prey, he straddled his mother looking down at her sleeping form; a dark menacing grin appearing on his face._

_She must of felt his weight on her as her eyes fluttered open, her face scrunched in confusion and she wiped her eyes, "Kyung-?" she started by the small boy brought the knife down, swiftly lodging it into her stomach and her eyes widen in shock._

_Kyungsoo smiled as her eyes landed on his own and down to the knife in her stomach, blood pooling into the fabric of her clothing. Kyungsoo dislodged the knife and her face contorted with pain and she started screaming her eyes staring at him with, hurt, pain, confusion, betrayal and fear. Kyungsoo grinned. He stabbed her again and her screams sounding through the empty house but slowly died out, his father shot up beside them as his mother was choking for air. He looked over at where Kyungsoo and his wife stayed and taking in the scene his eyes grew in horror. His eyes darted to Kyungsoo with the knife and his wife lying still, unmoving, but as he got over his shock and before he could make any action Kyungsoo lodged the knife into his throat and fear penetrated his eyes for a split second as they grew lifeless._

_The fire in Kyungsoo's stomach rose to his chest as he let out a crazed laugh. As he retracted the knife his father fell back, dead, the blood from his fathers wound spurting all over his face But Kyungsoo was feeling too joyful to care as he took to stabbing them over and over. Blood drenched the sheets and he laughed until the signs of dawn emerged and he finally left the room looking like a bloody mess._ _He glanced at the knife in his hands before heading back to the maids room and put it under her pillow, careful to wipe blood in discreet places but open enough to catch by looking. Kyungsoo knew the maids would be here soon, he timed it as such. He went downstairs to the phone by the basement and dialed in 911, he waited and then put on his best show of a frantic person that he could. As he ended the call, Kyungsoo felt light with a weird sense of freedom and he once again started laughing thinking of his dead parents upstairs._

 _How does it feel? Being left alone and neglected by your only son? he thought to himself as he_ silently _left, leaving behind the lonely house that now looked at his retreating back even more broken and sad._

 


	7. File Unlocked: Baekhyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: have you guys figured out the pattern to these file unlocking?  
> I'll give you a hint : Sehun.

Byun Baekhyun

May 6th 1992

Conman

 

_Baekhyun couldn't sleep, he laid on his side clutching his tattered teddy bear to his chest. It was the only present his parents have gotten him on their own free will, without complaining about wasting money and how he was sucking them dry. The three of them didn't have much of a strong relationship but Baekhyun still loved his parents even if they didn't pay him much attention. The noise from downstairs drifted up and through his slightly opened bedroom door, his parents were having friends over; they did this almost every night but he was never allowed to be downstairs at those times. Baekhyun wasn't one to disobey his parents because they could be quite scary when troubled. He held up his teddy bear over his head and stared into the black beady eyes that new all his secrets while listening to the laughter drifting into his room._

_"What should we do, teddy?" Baekhyun shook the stuffed toy before bringing it to his ear. He listened before he answered, "yes, I'm scared". Baekhyun didn't like the dark much and sometimes the things in his room made scary looking figures on the night's like these when he couldn't sleep._

_Baekhyun clutched the teddy to his chest and glanced towards his door, he wanted to be with his parents but Baekhyun didn't want to be scolded. He took a deep breath and sat up before scooting off his bed and shuffling towards the door. He clung to his teddy as he silently made his way to the top of the stairs, the living room lights were still on signaling where everyone resided. Baekhyun made his way downstairs and poked his head into the open area a little ways from the kitchen._

_His parents were sitting on the couches that they positioned around a beat up looking table, there was three other people; two dudes and a woman who sat in the other couches. The place was a mess of snacks and beer as they all leant over an array of cards and stacks of money. The laughter was louder now as they all seemed to be drunk, the lady put down the cards in her hands on the table and she leaned back heaving a hearty and sloppy laugh._

_"Ah, fuck you, Sana!" Baekhyun saw his mother point accusingly at the woman "you cheated." her face was red._

_"You just fucking suck, Chaeyoung" the woman waved still grinning and already reaching over to scoop up all the money._

_"Mom? Dad?" Baekhyun spoke up unsure of the situation. All their heads whip over to see the small boy standing their clutching his tattered stuffed toy._

_His mom and dad shoot up from their chairs "Baekhyun" his mom says bypassing his dad and hurriedly coming over. "Why are you up?" she gripped his shoulder hard and he winced as she pushed him back to the stairs._

_"But I'm scared" Baekhyun said looking back to the living room where he saw his father frowning with his arms crossed._ _"Just hide under your covers, Baekhyun. You're nine; too old to be coddled" his mom kept pushing him. Baekhyun abruptly spun away from her and ran towards his dad, who stood tall near the entrance._

_"Go back to bed, boy" he said unmoving but Baekhyun wasn't even feeling sleepy anymore. He gripped his dads arms and looked at him pleadingly, "please" he said._

_They stared at each other for a while, "Oi, are you guys going to come play another round or what?" Baekhyun glanced between his dad and the wall to see one of the males raise an eyebrow, his eyes slid down to Baekhyun and the boy quickly shifted to be hidden by his dad._

_Baekhyun hears both his parents sigh. "Yeah we're coming" his mother said going back into the room, "Jaehyuk, handle him" she said. His dad looked down at him and frowned, "you can stay for a little bit"._

_Baekhyun felt elated as he followed his parents back to the table, he took a seat in his dads lap and looked across the table finally getting a better look at the other people. The woman was pretty, she had red hair and fair skin with pretty pink lips and brown eyes; the two dudes looked exactly the same with black hair done into the same undercut style, the same facial features but one had light hazel eyes while the other had dark brown eyes. Twins. These were the type of people is parents hung out with? They looked very intimidating with their dark makeup and bold outfits._

_"Who's dealing?" he heard his dad say behind him and he looked back into his face. He noticed the familiar scruff of a beard he always sported in the morning; did he not shave? His parent's had him at a young age and most times they liked to keep that youthful look. "What's that?" he asked, he saw his dad glance down towards him before sighing._

_"It's when you give out the cards" he said and Baekhyun looked back to the table to see him swiftly go around and give each person cards._ _"This isn't how you play Go fish, everybody only gets three cards" Baekhyun said watching his dad give out all the cards. "That's because we aren't playing Go fish, Baekhyun"._

_"Then, what are you playing?" he questioned. His dad sighed again, "you ask too much questions, boy" he says lifting up his hand of cards._

_"Oh, shut up. Look kid, It's just something we play for fun when we're not in the casino hitting the big bucks" Baekhyun looked over at the pretty woman who spoke up. "We also used to play it in college" she adds._

_Baekhyun tilts his head, "what's a casino?". Everyone's head turned to each other before the woman smirked "it's a place where people go to che-", "Sana" Baekhyun heard his mother cut in and he looked at her confused. "Let's just play" she finished._

_Baekhyun watched the first few minutes of the game. He learned they were playing something called president and whoever won gets all the money in the middle of the table. It was surprisingly easy for Baekhyun to catch on and he looked at his parents hands before looking over at the three other adults who were smirking. Baekhyun knew his parents were going to lose and he found himself not liking that idea. He noticed the woman was playing all her high cards first and the two males were just going with the flow; his parents had all their low cards still and Baekhyun knew that was their disadvantage._

_His mind quickly adjusted to the opposing adults plays; when the woman put down her two kings, Baekhyun quickly took his dads two and places it down and knowing that the two males wouldn't try to play their own two on account of them not seeing the point in wasting a card and his mother not wanting to give hers up; he burned the deck. His dad had all four threes and Baekhyun put those down, he knew no one could go so he burned those, leaving his dad with seven cards. He played three tens to which his mother then put down three kings and the males put down their two deuces to which the woman automatically burned. Baekhyun noticed she had five cards left; she put down an ace probably thinking no one would be able to go but Baekhyun took the joker from his fathers hand and put it down, burning the card then placed his dads two jacks. His mother couldn't go and neither could the two males, of course the woman went; putting down two kings. Baekhyun looked at his dads hand knowing the woman only had one card to go and he grinned; his dad could win. At this point it was a two sided game, Baekhyun didn't know what kind of card the woman had but he could only hope it wasn't a two. He placed down his dads deuce card and looked at his mother who obviously couldn't go and then to the males who shook their heads; he slid his twinkling eyes to the woman and she frowned and shook her head. Baekhyun has never felt so excited to win a card game before but as he burned the deck and put his dads two kings down he felt beyond elated._

_"Dad wins!" he shouted, putting up his two fists in the air and looked around at everyone who had shocked expressions on their faces. "No. I think it's you who won, boy" his dad said behind him. "I didn't know you had a knack for card games"._

_"Maybe he'll have a knack for gambling and get us some huge bucks" the woman said clearly annoyed that she lost to a kid._

_Baekhyun looked behind him, fully turning on his dads lap "what's gambling?" he asked. At that time Baekhyun didn't comprehend the sly grins that his parents gave each other._

 

_After that night Baekhyun started accompanying his parent's to their night outings on their encouragement, going to the casino to which Baekhyun couldn't believe how big and crowded it was. There was so much people everywhere playing different games, some that Baekhyun didn't know about. His parent's would go to the card tables and tell him what the game was and how you played, they would let him in and each time he would win the piles of money in the middle and his parents would praise him and buy him ice cream or candy afterwards. They would go home with bags full of money but still Baekhyun didn't fully understand the concept of gambling except that it was very easy and didn't understand why sometimes people got mad. Once a man got so Josey Baekhyun had won that it started a whole fight throughout the club; his parents had to rush him out but not without getting a few punches in. The constant nights at the casino kept going as Baekhyun grew older and understood more and more of how evil this game of gambling really was as his parent's started telling him how to con others of their money and soon the cash flow didn't come in because Baekhyun won but because he cheated and out witted; he started questioning his part in his parents ordeals and why this was the only thing they did together._

 

_One day on his tenth birthday, Baekhyun went down the hall to their room ready to tell his parents he didn't want join their act anymore but when he opened the door the space was empty. Confusion drew on his face, did they go to the casino this early? He questioned as he entered noticing that the sheets were uninterrupted as if no one has been in them. Baekhyun exited the room and went downstairs,_

_"Mom? Dad?" he called, popping his head into the kitchen to see the space also empty. The faucet dripped loudly in the quiet house, did they really leave this early? Something didn't seem right though, it was like everything was untouched since they came home last night and Baekhyun went straight to bed, exhausted._

_Baekhyun noticed his parents shoes and jackets gone from the area by the door, his heart rate was picking up for some reason as he walked around the quiet, still house and there were no signs of his parents anywhere, even their toothbrushes were gone. He made his way slowly, like a dazed zombie, back up the stairs towards his parent's room as a sickening thought came to his mind. As he walked closer to the door it seemed to taunt him and give off a dark shadow. He pushed opened the door and walked in heading for the closet; he opened it slowly and his heart sank to his feet as he fell to the carpeted floor. The closet was void of any clothes and the duffel bags of money they've collected were also missing, Baekhyun's mind was reeling and his heart was thumping but the only thing that he took notice of was the water that slipped from his eyes._

_His parents were gone._


	8. Episode 5: Bargain

Xiumin watched from the shadows of the alley as the boyish looking male got taken away in handcuffs and scoffs. "Pathetic, kid".

Xiumin pushed himself off the wall before running right down the back alley behind the brick apartments, a fence was barricading them in and cutting them off from an open grassy field on the other side. He got to a dark green dumpster and hoisted himself on top of it, the sound of his boots hitting the metal resonating throughout the still space. There was a pipe scaling the side of the building and Xiumin grips on to it and started climbing to the shallow platform of a window and knocked against the dusty glass four times. He clung to the platform as the window opened revealing the face of Irene; a pretty girl with black straight hair, big eyes and a small face.

"You know, you could've just used the front door" she deadpanned moving aside so he could hop down into the dim room. There wasn't a lot inside just a flimsy couch, some offset chairs they got from the garbage dumps outside and a wooden table. For a team of drug dealers you'd think with all the money they got a nice furnished room would be expected but Xiumin and his partners were more concerned with using that money to get the best drugs around. They sold quality pills to people who come asking and they either use it for themselves or self it off for more to which Xiumin and his team always go to collect their share and if they don't comply Xiumin took it by force.

"I couldn't, there's police outside" Xiumin informed. Instantly everyone in the room turned their heads towards him. "What do you mean, police? What's going on?" one of the boys spoke up, Key; a guy with short cropped blonde hair that always wore specs he didn't need. Xiumin went over to sit on one of the couches two of his partners already occupied, Taemin and Max. "There was this huge crowd, someone must've called the department because soon they pulled up to the scene and sealed it off" he started. 

Max got up from where he sat and made his way over to Xiumin, planting himself on the males lap; the smaller didn't object as he kind of had a thing for the hot male, "why was there a crowd?" Max asked. Xiumin adjusted his sitting position gripping the males waist, "there were four people lynched on the metal fire escape" he put out bluntly. 

"What the hell? Why?" Irene stood off to the sides, watching the two males act so close even though they both had a fight not just minutes before Xiumin went out. The male shrugged, "how should I know? When I was leaving though, I got caught up watching a police man and that Baekhyun kid get into a fight; He was winning until a second officer came and handcuffed him" Xiumin told them all. Taemin laughed beside him, "so bold to fight a police officer" he said and Xiumin grunted. "But he got caught, which makes it pathetic by default and after he brought us all that money too, shame".

"Did you catch anything else? Like who did the lynching, was it the kid?" Irene questioned, curious about the type of murder that took place. Xiumin waved his hand "Baekhyun could never have done that, that guy squirms at the sight of lifeless bodies; I'm surprised he stuck around there long. He was probably doing something to benefit his pockets" Xiumin stated. "I didn't hear anything about the lynching but I did catch something the police guy shouted; something about OT8?".

Irene raised an eyebrow as she took a seat on one of the chairs, "what the hell is that?".

"OT8?" Key chimed up in question from where he sat next to two young members, Jaehyun and Doyoung, who were sorting some pills into baggies. Everyone looked in his direction. "Isn't that the same investigation the police did on you and those seven other criminals years ago that made you guys kind of famous?" he questioned some more. 

"Guys, look at this" everyone, intrigued by the new information and the situation, turn their heads towards where the guy known as U-Know sat staring at the lone tablet the crew had. The tall male held up the device showing the screen for everyone to see. It played a broadcast of a camera filming the inside of a silver van, Xiumin's eyes went down to the headline. "If Key is right and it is the same investigation; they've just caught two of them".

 

 

Suho stared at the TV in his office, the broadcast of the silver van was playing out and inside he could clearly make out lay and if his eyes weren't playing tricks; Wendy. There was also someone else beside them but that wasn't his concern, what was though, is the headline flashing in the screen. 'OT8 investigation back on track? Two captured and linked to public lynching?'.

"So? Is it time to kill some police officers?" Phoenix asked behind him. Suho said nothing. 

Phoenix looked at the screen. He knew the male beside Lay; Baekhyun. They have never actually talked but Phoenix new of him and he found the smaller beyond hot; The way his hair was slicked back and the eyeliner he wore enhanced his look and made him more mature, the tight clothes that clung to his body and showed off his perfect build; Phoenix licked his lips at the thought of it and smirked. He liked playing with fire and from what he's heard the smaller was a tightly packed fiery ball and Phoenix wanted to pursue it and set it ablaze. 

"Why are you always here?" Suho turned his back to the TV and shut it off with the remote on his desk. The tall male has been coming by often since he started working with the CEO, partly because he liked lounging in an expensive space and the other being that no one was at home to go back to. Phoenix crossed his arms and stared at the males back from under his hood, "why don't you want me here? I'm a good shot; close range and long rage, I even have a mean swing" he said patting his prized metal bat he carried.

"I don't want a bodyguard" Suho said sitting in his desk chair. "Good, because I'm not one. I'll sooner swing the bat and smash your head in than protect you" Phoenix said miming a dramatic homerun swing. The tall male then heard the click of a gun and looked toward the CEO who pointed a silver handgun aiming straight at his chest, his free hand supporting his chin. "Get out" he says plainly. 

Phoenix chuckled and put his hands up in mock surrender "okay, okay" he said as he turned around and walked to the door. Suho immediately pulled the trigger, Phoenix smoothly side stepped it and lifted his metal bat to catch the small bullet; it hits the weapon and goes sailing to the other side of the room. Phoenix looked back at the CEO his lips turned down before he smirks. 

"Nice try, I saw it coming" he said to which the CEO lowered the gun and huffed, "worth the shot, assassin, it almost got you by a hair".

"It's called, dramatic effect" Phoenix winked even though the CEO couldn't see it. 

 

 

Kyungsoo sat in front of his TV and watched the news about the lynching and also the news of OT8. Were they really picking up that case again? If so he had to be even more discreet in hiding although Kyungsoo felt as if he had that covered given the fact that he has stolen another persons identity; his body stuffed in the garbage shoot down the hall. But if those officers could capture two of those criminals already he may need to take extra measures. 

 

 

Across the city in the 'Monster' casino club, the big TVs overhead played the same news broadcast. Among them Kai and Chen watched along feeling eyes turn their way. Chen smiled and soon his noisy laugh filtered around the club earning everyone's full attention now and not just attempts at discreet glances.

"Bring it on police, you scum!" Chen shouted. "You're messing with the wrong guy!"

The club then turned their heads in Kai's direction who was sitting with one leg draped over the other and stirring a glass of some cocktail mixture. He scoffed, for a group of criminals they were surprisingly obedient and in sync. "Well, how much longer could they have resisted my sexiness?" he looked up at them all and smiled. The club suddenly erupted in cheers as the two showed determination and the wave of adrenaline coursed through the crowd at the prospect of a criminal and police showdown. 

Lurking in the darkest parts of the club stood a tall lean individual, a mask covering his face as he watches on. "It's not the police you should be worried about" he mumbled.

\----------------

"Let me out!" the male known as Baekhyun shouted for what had to be the hundredth time and Sehun was getting fed up. They had locked him and Yixing in one of the concrete holding cells on the main floor of the police unit that was usually used for small offenders that came by in the day and night like alcoholics causing a ruckus or teenagers defacing public property. They were waiting for Chief to get back from the crime scene so Sehun and Jeonho had to keep an eye on them. Sehun turned around to look at the pretty frowning boy,

"You won't be let out, you're a criminal of the law" Sehun replied which only made the male frown more. 

"Listen here you fucking ass-" he started but was cut off, "you really need to learn to control that anger of yours, Baekhyun" Yixing chided. 

Baekhyun whipped around, "are you my fucking therapist, Lay?" the doctor just laughed. "Do kindly not to speak to Dr. Zhang like that in case you want to deal with me" Wendy piped up, sipping the cup of tea she requested from them. They had first rejected but soon learned she wasn't one to mess with given the fact that two of their officers now had broken noses. Baekhyun huffed and sat down on the stone bench slab. Sehun raised an eyebrow at the encounter and a thought sparked in his mind, "you guys actually know each other?" he asked. 

Yixing looked over at him but his eyes weren't as cheery and relaxed as his demeanor and Sehun wondered how one could have such different emotions portrayed so prominently. Yixing leaned back against the concrete wall and looked to be pondering how to answer before he just smiled, such a sweet gesture accompanied with dead eyes that looked to be ripping the tall officer apart. "I know everyone".

"Huh?" Jeonho spoke up. "I said, I know everyone" Yixing repeated and then a mischievous smirk crept to his lips. "Even the six guys you're trying to find". Sehun stood there for a minute processing what the male just said but before he could open his mouth, Jeonho piped up "I knew it! I knew it! He was lying".

"Lay?" Baekhyun questioned. But the doctor paid him no mind as he held Sehun's stare, the smirk never leaving. Truthfully Yixing had no intention of telling these officers where any of the other six are, it was luck they even caught him or Baekhyun. He was simply enjoying the reactions and the whole situation.

Suddenly the door to the floor burst open and in walked officer Leeteuk and Chief. Sehun and Jeonho turned around and the two criminals looked over at the two new men, "Where are they?" officer Leeteuk exclaimed already locking eyes with the two and barreling over. The two males behind bars stayed seated and undisturbed just staring at the approaching officer, even Wendy was not intrigued but that didn't surprise Sehun. 

"Officer Leeteuk, please" Chief called but the man didn't listen. "Why did you do it!?" he pointed an accusing finger at the males.

Yixing stood up then, "oh goodie, another officer" he deadpanned. "What is it that you're accusing us of?" he asked switching his hard eyes to the other officer leaving Sehun to feel relieved at being stripped from the pressure his gaze gave off. "The lynching, the dismembered body. We know you and the others of OT8 are a part of that; why are you trying to terrorize this city!?".

"What the fuck, man? We had nothing to do with that lynching or some dismembered body or at least I haven't; you're just spouting bullshit" Baekhyun said standing up abruptly. "Bullshit? You think hanging four innocent people to a fire escape and striping them naked for all too see is bullshit?" Leeteuk questioned getting into the pretty boys face.

"Fuck off, you-" Baekhyun was once again cut off by Yixing who placed a hand on his chest pushing him back. He stood in front of the officer and fixated his eyes on him, getting close to which Leeteuk backed up visably freaked out as Sehun could see and somehow it made him smile; out of nowhere Yixing laughed in his face. "You really think we did that?".

"Y-yes I do" Leeteuk stuttered a bit before composing himself, "you guys have been disrupting the city for too long with your meaningless murders, you're getting out of hand!" he turned to Jeonho and Sehun. "You two, go and start finding the rest them before they try anything else and throw these two in jail!" he pointed to Yixing and Baekhyun "they don't deserve to see the light of day".

The officer turned around to leave but was stopped by Chief planting a hand on his shoulder, Leeteuk looked at him only to meet a scowl, "who do you think you are?" he questioned. Leeteuk furrowed his eyebrow in confusion, "what?".

"Who do you think you are? Acting as if you have any authority to be ordering anyone around, you're not the Chief Leeteuk". The officer glowered at the Chief and then frowned, "I am the head of the officiating unit" Leeteuk jabbed a thumb towards himself "I handle criminal cases".

"This isn't your case, it's theirs" Chief said pointing at Sehun and Jeonho who were just watching the whole debacle, astonished. "So stay in your lane and don't over step it" he finished jabbing a fist firmly into Leeteuk's chest. It was silent as they stared at each other, both frowning before Leeteuk swatted Chiefs hand away and stomped out the door. The head of the department sighed as he looked over at the others; the criminals were both staring at the floor and Sehun and Jeonho stood off to the side awkwardly awaiting further instruction. The Chief slowly walked over to the cell and knocked on the bars earning the three inmates attention. 

"We need to ask you some questions" he said calmly even though he was feeling all types of different emotions seeing two of the eight criminals he's been chasing after for years behind bars; somehow it didn't seem right and that thought surprised the Chief.

"Go ahead, we have all the time in the world" Yixing spoke. Chief looked at him, this man the surgeon; a renowned public figure who's saved countless lives but killed just as many. How could someone who tried to preserve human life also want to take it away? "Why are you a criminal?" he suddenly asked. 

"Chief?" Jeonho questioned and Sehun too looked on, also confused. Yixing stared at the the older man, "Jinyung. Some people don't deserve to live" he said simply and a flare of anger coursed through Sehun remembering the room with all those body parts. "How do you know our Chiefs name?" Jeonho asked. 

"You guys should know this isn't  the first time this case was upholded and you guys weren't the first to come investigation me" Yixing informed keeping the eye contact with the department head. "he had years on me but was naive and believed everything I told him because I've saved thousands of lives".

"But you're a surgeon! You thrive on that, why would you do this? It makes no sense!" Chief exclaimed. "A lot of things don't make sense" Yixing finished. Jinyung sighed and looked to the side at Baekhyun who was biting his nails, "and what about you?" he asked and the pretty boy looked up, his eyes weren't as hard and deep as Yixing's but still held an intensity. For a brief second the Chief saw a small sadness there.

"Look, old man. I'm not going to sit here and have a sentimental talk with you when I'm wrongly locked up" Baekhyun stated. 

"You were scanning people out of their money, that's illegal" Sehun said pointedly. Baekhyun looked at him and rolled his eyes, "how so if they willingly gave it to me? All I said was there is a fee to see the bodies". 

"You mislead them" Sehun now turned to frown at him. "They could've asked questions" Baekhyun said nonchalantly and to that Sehun tripped up. Baekhyun chuckled, "you don't even know how your own laws work" Sehun was fuming. 

"Okay, that's enough. You two" Chief pointed at the two detectives "get back on the case and finding the others, I'm afraid we don't have all the time in the world like we might think; something is definitely going on" he says turning around to leave the space. 

"Wait!" Sehun piped up and the Chief turns toward him, "you're not going to ask them about the lynching or the body?". Chief shook his head "they didn't do it". 

"What? How do you know for sure?" Sehun somehow couldn't let it go that it might not be them; maybe because there could be someone else out there that was more menacing and harmful than these criminals and that didn't sit well with the tall male. "You said it yourself. That male was at the scene scamming others and the doctor was already with you" the Chief looked at him "trust me, detective". He finished before leaving. 

"But" Sehun mumbled. "You should listen to your boss, he obviously knows what he's talking about" Sehun turned to the surgeon who was now sitting crossed legged and braiding Wendy's hair. She seemed undisturbed by it as if it was wholly normal for the male to do that out of the blue. "I still don't believe you didn't have a hand in it" Sehun said stubbornly.

"What if Chief is right and someone totally different is behind everything? We have to keep open minds as detectives. We can't just keep barking up the same tree when there are millions around" Jeonho said beside him.

Sehun looked at him incredulously, "you're supposed to back me up" Jeonho smiled and patted his back " I am. Just not fully" and Sehun sighed. 

"Your partner has a point, seems like everyone else is using their brain except you. I know I can kill brutally but lynching isn't my style" Yixing said focusing on the braid he was making, "and that one over there couldn't stand to see a lifeless body, all he does is play with cards all day" the doctor nods his head to Baekhyun. 

"Hey! At least I didn't put my career on the line" the pretty boy exclaimed to which Yixing just huffed. But Sehun wasn't listening anymore, his mind was turning and all that stuck was the word 'Card'. Could it be? He quickly started patting his pockets until he felt the thin object in the back of his pants. 

"This!" Sehun exclaimed holding up the king of spades card. All four people turn to look at him and then at the paper object he held in his hands. "The playing card?" Jeonho questioned.

Sehun didn't miss the recognition on Baekhyun's face as he looked at the object although he tried to mask it but Sehun's eyes were fixated on Yixing who only glanced over. "This, you gave me this" he shook the card. "did I?" Yixing questioned simply. 

"Yes, I'm sure of it. The day Jeonho and I came to investigate you". Baekhyun looked over at the surgeon who was seemingly unbothered by the accusation, "Lay! You bastard!". "Why did you give it to me, what does it mean?" Sehun asked urgently. 

Yixing stopped braiding Wendy's hair and  turned to Sehun, amusement in his eyes. "I gave it to you for fun but seeing as you haven't figured it out yet, I guess I took your observant nature for granted".

"Figured it out? Figured out what? What do you mean?" Sehun question looking at the card better, was there something written on it?

"Wǒ bù huì shuō yīngyǔ (I can't speak English)" Yixing suddenly spoke in a different language and Sehun and Jeonho looked at him as if he grew two heads. "What?" Jeonho asked. Sehun saw Baekhyun snickering, "you know what he said? What did he say?" Baekhyun looked at him with a smirk on his lips, "wǒ bù huì shuō yīngyǔ" he shrugged. 

The tall male was getting mad at how uncooperative the two criminals were, "You guys think you're so funny, you won't be smiling when-", "Sehun look" Jeonho interrupted pointing to the card the male still held. The tall detective looked down at the paper object, the light from outside was reflecting off the card and Sehun suddenly saw something glare at him. He raised an eyebrow and looked closer bringing it up to his face but keeping the reflection of the sunlight on it. He gasped at what he saw, "what? A logo?!" he voiced. 

"Shit" he heard Baekhyun say. Sehun tries to decipher what it said; he made out a thick circle with the letters M, O and N underneath. What do those letters mean? He tried to read more but the logo was very discreet and the glare too high. 

"What's this a logo for?" Jeonho asked. "that, detective, is none of you concern" Wendy piped up after a long term of silence. "I don't think you exactly have a choice in the matter. Tell us what this is" Jeonho demanded, Wendy crossed her arms "and if we don't? What will you do? Send us to jail for failure to comply with an officer? In case you forgot detective, we are criminals we've never complied with the police" she finished. 

Jeonho was stumped after that because they really couldn't do anything more than send them to jail which they were already going. "Fine" Sehun said turning around and heading over to one of the many computers that sat in the room, most already occupied by workers. He found a vacated one and sat down, Jeonho followed and stood behind him. 

"You won't find it on the internet" the two detectives look over at Baekhyun who's face was blank. "And why not?" Sehun asked,

"It's something of a secret that only passes through us criminals" Baekhyun says looking away. Sehun smirked then, "finding hidden things is my specialty". 

Jeonho watched as his partner clicked a few things on the computer suddenly making the screen all white with a lone thin flashing line at the top left of the screen. The younger watched as Sehun flexed his finger and then began to type quickly on the keyboard, his fingers moved so fast that Jeonho couldn't keep up with them and turned to look at the screen where letters, words and symbols popped up just as fast skimming down the screen as things were written. If Jeonho wasn't mistaking they looked like codes, "what are you doing?".

Sehun said nothing as he continued typing, he soon pushed enter and the computer screen went black before columns of 'M.O.N' words started scrolling up the screen, Jeonho was taken aback by what he was seeing. Sehun was smiling to himself as he watched the rows of words pop up on screen giving thousands of options; it brought back a ton of memories and he found himself having to catch himself to mask the visible elation he was feeling. 

"There's too many options" Jeonho voiced behind him, slight 'awe' in his tone. Sehun nodded "yeah, we need to narrow them down" Jeonho was quiet for a while as he thought, looking at the card that was resting on the table and back at the computer screen. "There's only one place where playing cards are the most dominant" Jeonho said "what if it's a logo for a casino club?". Sehun hummed thoughtfully pondering the idea before clicking away the moving columns.

"I said you won't be able to find it on the internet" Baekhyun said watching them from his slab. "Leave them be, Baekhyun" Yixing said his eyes closed.

"Leave them be? This was your fault in the first place, you gave away our hideout and ultimately got yourself caught" Baekhyun said pointedly. Yixing opened one eye and looked at the pretty boy, "who said I didn't want to get caught? Plus I think it's time we were, don't you think?". Baekhyun scoffed "you're one crazy asshole. Speak for yourself".

"Found it!" Jeonho exclaimed and Baekhyun whipped his head to look over at the two detectives who had a grainy picture if the casino clubs logo. "What? How?" Baekhyun asked. Sehun got up from the chair "Monster, a casino club" he said. Yixing let's out a long whistle as they came back over, "that's some talent". 

"Yeah, I didn't know you were good with computers, Sehun. Did you work as an IT guy at one point?" Jeonho questioned but before the tall male could say anything, Yixing spoke "No" he said, "that's the talent of a hacker". 

Sehun tensed at the word, he stood in place and fixed his eyes on the surgeon, "what?" Jeonho said. Sehun turned to him and smiled, "I don't know either, he's talking nonsense like always but yes; I did go to school for computer technology" Jeonho nodded slowly.

"Anyways, we need your guy's help" Sehun addressed the three inmates. "No" Wendy piped up, Sehun raised an eyebrow "what?", "we won't help you find the place" she stated. Once again Sehun was left speechless at how sharp the woman was. 

"Yeah, no, we're not doing that. What would be in it for us?" Baekhyun shook his head. Sehun looked over at the doctor to find him leaning against Wendy, eyes closed and dozing off. Wendy nudged him hard with her elbow and he shot up, "what? What?" he said looking around before his eyes landed on the officers on the other side of the cell, his face grew solemn "oh, we're still here? I was hoping it would be a dream" he yawned. "What is it now?",

"They want us to help them find the casino" Baekhyun informed to which Yixing shook his head "nope, can't do that". "Then why did you give me the card then?" Sehun was getting impatient.

"I told you it was for fun, to see if you could figure it out and come running back demanding I tell you more to which I would then kill you" the doctor said matter-of-factly and Sehun felt a chill over come him at the males serious tone. 

"If you help us, we'll make sure you don't end up in jail" Jeonho said suddenly. Sehun looked at him weirdly "Jeonho, that's no in our-", "we could even pay you" he continued hushing the older and Sehun saw Baekhyun perk up at the prospect of money. "And if we somehow don't hold up our end" Jeonho said earnestly and determinedly, "then you can kill us" he finished. Sehun whipped his head back to his partner glowering at him. "What!? Are you insane!?".

The laughter of the surgeon filtered over the whole space earning the eyes of the other workers around them. "That's some serious stuff your bargaining. Are you sure?" he asked. Sehun shook his head, "n-", "yes" Jeonho once again cut the male off staring intently at the doctor and then at the other two inmates. Sehun couldn't believe what he was hearing or seeing.

"Well, Baekhyun isn't one for killing so I guess this one's on me". The smirk that Yixing pulled across his face was so menacing and crazed that Jeonho gulped, slowly regretting what he just said.


	9. Episode 6: Hell

"Boss" the lanky male pushed through the dusty door of the house that looked like it would collapse if too many people stepped foot in it. The room was the only thing cleaned and made up being the place his boss used the most when he wasn't at the warehouse compound. 

"What is it?" he asks gruffly standing by the window and looking out on to the empty streets. He was a handsome dude, tall, brooding and strong features. The lanky male makes his way over to stand beside him and train his eyes outward looking over the place they called 'home'. The whole place had a constant grey hue over it curtosy of the big fire that engulfed it years ago and deemed it inhabitable; the streets dusty with old soot turned chalk, houses charred and saggy looking but surprisingly still firm despite the creaks and groans, the only life roaming around being their big troupe of people. They were still near the main city but it was an hours ride up and back not counting the run in's with wild animals of the thick forests surrounding the area. 

"The police are on the move, they're asking more questions" the lanky male said before he scoffs. "They think it's some group of misfit criminals who are doing the killings; they've captured two of them, OT8 I believe" he informs. 

His boss says nothing for a while as he just stares blankly out the window, hands clasped behind his back. "Where's that partner of yours?" he asks in a deep voice void of any emotion. "He's checking the warehouse inventory, why?" the younger questioned. His boss smiled but it looked twisted as if it didn't fit his face, "the two of you gather some of the men, it's time we upped our antics; really instill some fear into that city" his boss clamped a hand on the lanky males shoulder earning an unwilling wince; the smile stayed. "He won't know what hit him", the younger looked at his boss with his ugly smile wondering who he was talking about. 

 

 

 

 The last bit of the sun blends in with the dark sky off in the horizon as it disappears. Phoenix sat at the edge of a building with one feet dangling and the other propped up to where he rested his arm and head. He looked out into the sea of lights made from stores to apartments and houses, he then looked up to the sky and there was nothing; no stars, just a lonely moon. A low breeze blew but being higher up in altitude made it stronger rustling the hood he kept over his eyes; unrevealing and blending into the night like he was meant to be, a shadow.

So their after us again, huh? He thinks to himself as he watched the small specs of pedestrians crossing streets or strolling on the sidewalks. In those masses walks six criminals hiding away waiting to be captured and to that he chuckles to himself. Phoenix's ears suddenly twitch under his hood and he turns in a quick motion, lifting his hand up and catching the sharp blade that would've otherwise ripped through the fabric of his hood and lodged itself into his neck. He looked up only to stare at dense shadows of the buildings roof. 

"Why are you here? I thought you had a special mission out the city" Phoenix says to the clustered shadow and a person suddenly steps out as if they had materialized there out of thin air. The male was tall, bulky and intimidating as he walked up; his foot steps light and on the border of nonexistent. Phoenix turns back to the city scape.

"I heard" the males deep gruff voice said disturbing the stillness of the rooftop. "The hunter becoming the hunted" he stayed standing just behind the younger. 

Phoenix chuckles some more settling back into his previous position, "you can't be hunted if you don't exist" he says, staring intently at a group of kids stumbling up the sidewalk; drunk and Phoenix suddenly had the itch to burn them. Digging his hand into his pocket and pulling out the lighter he flicks it a few times before the hot light emerged. His other hand now comes up to support his cheek as Phoenix extends his arm to its full length; waiting. The tall, bulky male behind him stayed silent and if Phoenix were anybody else he would think he was gone, vanished as swiftly as he had apppeared.

Phoenix gingerly fingerd the metal object, the flame still burning densely as if the wind had no effect on it. The group of people come into line with his arm and he drops the lighter; both males watching it hurl itself directly on to their heads. They watch as the flame catches the bristles of their hair and tips of their clothing; growing and connecting as it took a hold of them violently and possessively. Screams ring out high and panicked from the group of flamed humans to bystanders and those walking near. The group disperses as they run around frantically their skin probably burning off; the stark contrast of the bright flames and the night sky was mesmerizing. Beautiful, Phoenix thought.

Those who weren't screaming were staring in horror and Phoenix and the tall bulky male looked on, faces neutral as their hoods hid them; shadows of the night.

"Fear is creeping" the male behind him says darkly. Pheonix smiles a sickly sweet smile, "it's already here".

\----------------

Sehun couldn't believe he was doing this. Wearing skin tight clothes and dark makeup, his hair styled up instead of the usual locks falling over his forehead. Baekhyun had insisted it was crucial to dress this way if he wanted to go along with his plan. Sehun now stood in the dark alleyway filled with drunkards, prostitutes and drug dealers; being part of the police force his instinct was to arrest most of them but that's not why he was here, he was here for a more dangerous bunch. 

He saw the opening in the wall and sure enough the sign gleaming 'Monster' laid there. Sehun noticed how remote the location was tucked between an alley no one but criminals would dare enter, clever he thought. He walked up to the descending stairs to see a brooding bouncer and he gulped, he was entering hell's den. The detective had no weapons on him as they would stand out against the tight outfit. Sehun looked discreetly down further into the alley to see a bundle of scattered people conversing with each other looking just as provocative as him but in less tight clothing so they could hide their guns without warning. Sehun spotted Jeonho and Leeteuk who insisted on coming if they wanted to use some of his men and they made eye contact giving firm nods to each other. 

Sehun clomped down the steps stopping as the bouncer trained his intense eyes on him. He looked the detective up and down scanning slowly and if Sehun was crazy he would've sworn he saw him lick his lips. "Card" he said deeply and Sehun just blinked a moment before getting it and dipping his hand into the back of his jeans and taking out the king of spades playing card. Yixing had explained that the card was sort of an entry ticket to the club, everyone who went had one. Sehun had been curious in wanting to know where they got it from but Yixing just laughed amusingly and said "spilling secrets weren't part of the bargain".

The bouncer took the card and then a flashlight out of his pocket and shone it on the paper object obviously looking for the glistening logo. The brute must of found it because he grunted and thrusted the card back to him, reaching over to take the handle of the big door and opening it so he could enter. Sehun wasted no time in tucking the card back into his pocket and going in not wanting to give the bouncer any reason to second guess him and somehow notice that he was anything but a criminal. The big door closed loudly behind him and his shoulders went rigid as he stood in a dark hallway encased by two walls that had ripped flyers all over them, Sehun saw a light near the end and walked briskly towards it.

As he passed through and turns a corner his eyes go wide at the scene. The place was huge with its high decorated ceiling of chandeliers and masses of people scattered around with music blaring around that could damage anyone's eardrums. Sehun couldn't hear any of this from the outside. The place was covered in red carpet except the platform that was a bar which had polished wood flooring, of course it being a Casino Club their was a big gaming area with tables of people gambling. The detective walked further in and was jostled by people who he didn't notice standing by the entrance. Still in awe he looked around, _stay focused_ he told himself. Snapping out of his daze he made his way to the bar thinking back to the conversation at the police department.

 

_"Blend in" Baekhyun said through the bars of the holding cell, "don't just go looking around for shit and being nosy, you'll be found out immediately" Yixing nodded along although his eyes were closed; Wendy was sleeping bent against him, Sehun had felt a bit bad that she had to be in there until he remembered that she basically helped a doctor decapitated and kill patients and a frown came over his face and the sympathy left him._

_"I would say go to the bar, it'll seem less suspicious" Yixing put in "people will gravitate towards you especially if you dress the way Baekhyun tells you". Sehun nodded along while Jeonho being as diligent as he was; wrote down notes._

_"But you haven't told us what they look like" Jeonho said behind the taller detective "how would we know we got the right guys". Baekhyun scoffed "shit detectives you are, use your heads; you're the ones with our files, no?"_

_"Whether you catch them or not isn't our concern because either way if you don't hold up your end" Yixing started, opening his eyes to look at Sehun a glint of menace in them; Sehun gulped, "you're dead"._

 

Sehun took a seat on one of the stools and held his hand up to call over the bartender. "Can I have a whiskey?" he asks and the bartender swiftly leaves him to go get his drink. Sehun took the time to look around, two seats away were a group of lean men who looked to be standing around someone. Sehun leaned his head a little bit to side to see a male sitting on the stool and he gasped a little bit the male was gorgeous, handsome face and soft features framed by a sharp jawline but what stood out the most was his bronze golden skin. The detective didn't really have a preference in partners whether it be boy or girl so it wasn't odd to him that he found the man extremely attractive. 

Sehun kept watching the male as one of the other guys surrounding him slid something onto the counter top just as the bartender came back to give Sehun his glass filled with whiskey. What was that? Sehun squinted his eyes trying to make out the packet and he saw white, cocaine? Suddenly a crackle near his ear interrupted his thoughts and it took a moment to realise it was the earing he was wearing on his left ear. The object was a speaker transmitter that was connected to the ones Jeonho and Leeteuk wore so they could communicate if they needed to. 

"Sehun, you there?" he heard the distorted voice of his partner come through. "Yes I'm here" he spoke softly. 

"See anyone that looks suspicious yet? Or anyone that matches the descriptions from our files?" Jeonho asks. They had both read up on each file again so they can thoroughly identify a member although it wasn't really a reliable source. "Jeonho, they are all suspicious they're criminals".

Sehun looked back over at the gorgeous male and his companions to see them all drinking, the packet nowhere in sight. He heard the nervous laughter of his partner through the transmitter "yeah, you're right. It's just that if we don't catch them we will basically be going back to our deaths with nothing to account for" he says. "And who's fault is that?" Sehun deadpanned. 

"Talking to yourself, handsome?" a sudden voice said behind Sehun who quickly turned around, surprised. The male takes the stool beside him and looks at the detectives untouched whiskey, "rough night?" the stranger asked. Sehun recognises him as the gorgeous man that was just sitting two stools down, he was about to turn to look over to where he came from but Sehun felt a hand on his cheek bringing his face back to stare at the nicely sculpted features of the bronze skinned male. 

The beautiful man smiled and Sehun felt his stomach do knots at the sheer prettiness of it, how can one guy be this attractive? But before the detective could get distracted Sehun was reminded that this was a club of criminals and he put up his guard. He came here for a purpose not to try and get laid; at this point of not knowing their targets faces anyone could be one of them. Sehun kept it cool,

"You could say that" he said picking up the untouched drink and taking a long swig of it in one go, finishing it. He felt the hand of the male sliding confidently up his thigh without so much as a stop until it rested over his crotch and Sehun nearly chocked as he put the glass back on the counter, "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?" the handsome male questioned as he gave Sehun dick a squeeze, the detective would be lying if he said arousal didn't chime at the base of his stomach. 

"I saw you looking at me" he said getting up from his stool and coming closer to Sehun who sat there dubious. Their faces were levelled as Sehun sat in his spot, the male was fairly tall although Sehun probably had an inch or two on him if he stood up. "do I pique your interest?" the bronze skinned males words dripped seductively, Sehun was feeling overwhelmed. His hands were freely roaming over the detective as he brought his face closer almost touching lips with Sehun, his breathing hitched. The detective wasn't stranger to sexual encounters but this male seemed more advanced than those he's ever came across, more bold. One of the males hands went around his waist pulling Sehun closer. 

"Let's go back to my place, I have a couple supplements that'll send us over the moon as you drill me" the attractive man said blowing against Sehun's lips while palming his dick. Sehun bit his lip, his mind was betraying him as he let this man, this criminal stir him. It took a moment for Sehun's mind to catch up and realize the male meant drugs and his thoughts suddenly snapped back into place as he remembered the packet the male was handed, he looked back at the seat he had been at and his eyes widened when he saw the group of men sprawled out the floor, drinks spilt on the counter the bartender was now cleaning and streaming to the floor where there were even glasses on the floor. What the hell? How did he not notice that commotion?

Sehun looked back at the male who just connected their lips and without hesitation slipped his tongue between Sehun's lips. _What was happening?_ Sehun thought to himself as his tongue was now being erotically sucked on by the attractive male, an unwilling moan slipped from him and he scolded himself, this wasn't right. Did he just kill those people? But how? With what? His thought were spinning as his neck was now being licked at the base, the males hands trailing down his chest and Sehun watched as he fell into a crouched position in front of his pants, his skilled fingers unzipped the detectives jeans and Sehun quickly covered his crotch with his hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his thoughts trying to fit all these pieces together, the packet clearly filled with drugs, the drinks, the sprawled men around the seat not breathing, the spilt liquid; even the seducing. A flash of a manila paper file came to mind and Sehun's heart thumped as he looked back at the attractive bronze skinned male who was pouting in between is legs, "I couldn't wait until we got to my place".

Sehun scrambled to his feet knocking I've the bar stool earning a glare from the bartender. "Jeonho, are you there? Jeonho?" he said quickly earning a confused look from the male who was still crouched looking up at the detective. 

The muffled and cracked voice of his partner came through "Yes, what's wrong did you find one?" his partners voice turned hopeful. Sehun nodded his head even though he couldn't be seen "yes, I think I-" but before he could continue a loud crash earned his attention. Even the attractive male who was now standing was looked to his right. 

Across the space by one of the gambling tables a man stood up chucking chairs across the room, they broke against the wall with the force, he then turned to the guy beside him, "you fucking cheat! Give me back my money or I'll smash your head in!".

Sehun heard a scoff beside him, the attractive man stood there and crossed his arms "Chen, the fucker, so annoying. If you can't play why waste your time?". Sehun's mouth ran dry at the prospect that he just let a criminal who kills others mercilessly grope him. "You're one of them" Sehun spat "you're part of Ot8".

At the sound of that name Kai stiffened and glanced back at the man, who he now really looked at. He didn't look like one of them, not at all. He was dressed like them but it didn't suit him. Kai looked at the males eyes, horror and disbelief glazed over them but they weren't dead and painless like other criminals they were lively and hopeful; disgusting. The man reached out for him, "you're under arr-" but Kai didn't let the man finish, he turned and started running to which he heard the male curse.

Sehun watches him run down the stairs and out onto the open floor, he followed suit only to start frantically talking to the transmitter "Jeonho! I found one of them! Hurry! He's running out the rear doors, take back up and surround him!" Sehun shouted "on it!" he heard Jeonho say. Sehun looked over at the male who was still shouting, Chen, the attractive male called him, he had a grip on the males shirt yelling into his face. 

"I'll knock you clean dead! Give me my money!" he shook the man and those sitting at the table got up warningly to circle the male. Sehun found himself making a beeline for the male. Chen swiftly took a gun from his waistband and aimed it straight at the forehead of the surprised man. "Give me my money!".

"Fuck you, man! You lost the bet, suck it up and go home" the crack of the gun was loud and everyone looked over at the sudden noise. Sehun stopped in his tracks watching as the male with the gun let go of the now dead man. The others around the table also took out their guns and trained it on the male who cackled amusingly. Sehun rushed over and grabbed the man's arm who quickly turned on him and aimed the gun between his eyes, the detective went still but gripped on tighter, "what do you want? Let go if me before I pop you too along with these fuckers" Chen jerked his head to the others surrounding him. 

Sehun couldn't be more sure that this was also one of them, how else would that other one know him? He's seen a lot of murderers and criminals but somehow these guys always stood out and Sehun just knew. "You're under arrest for being associated in planned attacks on citizens" Sehun said. "What the fuck you talking about, man? Let me go or I'll pull this damn trigger, who are you to say shit?".

"We've already caught two of you and we are about to catch two more" Sehun said and as if in realization the criminal known as Chen, narrowed his eyes and abruptly ripped his arm from the detective and sprinted off. These guys were really relentlessly, Sehun thought sprinting after him, murmurs and talks filtered through the crowd of an officer in the midst, suddenly two guys stepped in to his path and pulled a gun on him, they pulled the trigger and if Sehun didn't step aside soon enough he'd be dead. Others were now whipping out weapons on him and Sehun thanked the gods the police force demanded a knowledge in combat. His eyes were still fixed on the male who was running and swiftly skipping through people heading for the exit as he connected his elbow and feet into the sides and shins of criminals coming for him. 

Sehun slipped from their masses and ran down a different hall he saw the male go that wasn't the entrance. A door resided there and Sehun burst through it just as he saw the coat of the male turn the corner, Sehun sprinted until they were both running down a busy street. The night had a nice breeze to it as it blew over Sehun's face. He was catching up to Chen, who made an abrupt turn, Sehun spoke up "Stop!" the man aimed the gun behind him and shot, missing. The people around screamed at the gun shot and some even started running. Sehun had to maneuver around them,

"Jeonho!" he spoke to the transmitter "where are you? Did you catch the guy?" there was a bunch of crackling before a faint voice came over the line "yes! We got him he made us run as far as Maryland before we could corner him, we had to split up" his partner informed. Sehun looked up at the street signs, Limnar, it read. "I'm on Limnar, I got another one of them, he's coming up Maryland, tell some of the officers to cut him off". 

Sehun kept running getting closer, he hasn't ran this much since highschool when he played soccer. "There was another one there?" he heard the distant voice of Jeonho ask "actually I'm not sure" Sehun admitted "I'm going on a gut feeling but he just seemed like one. I couldn't rack my brain for a file description". 

They were coming up the street at the intersection of the two streets and Sehun suddenly saw two officers rush out of a nearby street and tackle the male to the ground Sehun soon caught up and stood over the three bodies, chest heaving. Chen was struggling mightily but the two officers just pressed their knees into his back and pinned his arms. "Fuck you all! Get off me!" he shouted. Bystanders stopped what they were doing to look over at the scene. Sehun looked over just a few feet in front of Chen to see his gun, he went to go pick it up when he heard the wail of sirens coming up the street. The detective saw the flashing red, blue and white lights. The cars soon stop around the scene and out comes the other officers along with Leeteuk and Jeonho. His partner bounds over to him, his eyes wide "what the hell happened!?" he asks astonished and Sehun looks at him confused, "what are you talking about?" Jeonho lifted a hand and touched his face, "you have a bruise under your eye. Sehun brought his own hand up to touch the now tender spot.

"I just got into and altercation" the detective said. The police officers lifted up a now handcuffed Chen who was still trying to shake them off. 

"Is that him?" Jeonho asked and Sehun nodded. "You sure he's part of OT8?" Sehun shrugged, "if he's not then we still did the city a favour getting this maniac off the street, he shot a man in cold blood". Sehun looked at his partner as they walk over to one of the police cars, hearing Leeteuk shouting at the criminal. "Do you still think these guys aren't responsible for those gruesome murders?" Sehun looked at his partner, feeling tired an worn. 

"Yes" Jeonho said as they got into the police car, his partner in the drivers seat and Sehun in the passengers seat with two officers in the back. Sehun looked at him incredulously as they begin to pull out ready to head back to the department. 

"Jeonho, these guys are merciless, one of them I'm pretty sure drugged a group of men and they were dropped like flies on the floor! And then tried to seduce me" he added. His partner chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation "I'm betting you'e taking about the golden skinned handsome male" he said "I wouldn't mind him trying to seduce me".

"Don't say that, you don't mean that" Sehun dismissed his partners joke. "Sehun you were in a criminal casino club, if anything they did us a favour" Jeonho said turning a corner.

"Don't talk like that, you scare me when you do. I just can't believe you're not getting that these guys are dangerous" Sehun shook his head looking into the rearview mirror to see the other two police cars following them.

"I trust Chief and if he says they aren't the cause who am I to argue?" Jeonho says. Suddenly his partner slams his foot on the break and Sehun goes sailing into the dashboard and the two officers into the front seats. "What the hell Jeonho?!" Sehun exclaimed to his partner who's eyes were wide and staring out the windshield. 

Sehun followed his gaze and he too widened his eyes at the sight. There were two firetrucks blocking the streets as people watched on, some whispering to each other or just looking on in horror. The two detectives get out of the car to take in the scene. On the ground were people who looked to be charred black scattered out as the firefighters put out the last remaining fires emerging from their bodies. "What in the hell? Jeonho said incredulously. 

"What happened here!?" Sehun heard Leeteuk beside him and he looked over at the older officer who's face was contorted into rage. 

A guy standing a few feet a way looked over at them and then at the police cars, he walked closer. "They just suddenly caught on fire and started running around screaming, someone called the fire department but it was too late" his face was grim with fear Sehun saw, he must've witnessed the whole thing. Sehun's jaw worked at the sight of the people's charred bodies, so gruesome, what the fuck is going on? He asked no one in particular. Sehun just then realised the vans of news channels and a sudden Deja Vu over came him, it was like the day they saw the lynched bodies. He cursed them in his mind, all they wanted was a story for the people just twist it and manipulate.

Just then an ear shattering 'boom' engulfed them, people screamed as the ground started shaking and Sehun reached to hold on to the hood of the police car. He looked at his partners who looked equally as surprised. Another shattering boom sounded and the ground shook again, people were now panicking and running around. Sehun looked up the street to see bursts of fire exploding around the base of some buildings and his eyes widened. The buildings tipped and soon they were all caving in on themselves, crashing to the ground. The whole street shook and the people running around fell and those who were aware enough held on to something. One of the fire trucks even tipped and the firefighters had to push others out of the way although Sehun looked on in horror as someone got caught underneath. 

 

 

 

 Chief stood up in disbelief as he watched the TV. He was sitting at one of the desks near the holding cell that held the three criminals, he had been trying to get some information out of them but they wouldn't budge. The other workers in the room also looked on as the horror was captured, the charred bodies and now the explosions. Chief looked back at the pretty boy, Baekhyun and Yixing; even the girl was watching on. There faces were passive as their eyes glued to the screen. 

"Looks like we're all going to hell" Yixing said only to cackle at the end.

Chief turned towards him and then back to the TV, how were all these things happening if OT8 were being captured? Was it the other four? It couldn't be, they couldn't have set that all up, could they? Chief didn't know anymore but his gut feeling wasn't letting him pin it on the guys a few feet behind him in the cell or the ones that Leeteuk informed were in the police car; so who? Who could so blatantly want it out for this city?


	10. File Unlocked: Kai

Kai (previously known as; Jongin)

January 14th 1994

Seducer

 

 

_Jongin dropped the box on the floor in a huff. He straightened up and looked around his one man dorm, a smile coming to his face. Jongin was a freshman in college and he had convinced his parents to let him live alone in the dorm a little way off from the main campus. It wasn't hard; Jongin just used the cute pout he knew he had and lured them to say yes. He could hear the chatter of others on his floor, either talking to friends or making new ones. He was lucky he got a lone room although he wouldn't have minded being assigned a roommate._

_He went over to his group of suitcases and bags and chose a bright red one, he turned it on its side and unzipped it revealing perfectly folded clothes. He'll unpack everything later but for now he wanted to roam around and see what the students were like. He rummaged through the suitcase taking out a pair of tight blue jeans and a form fitting T-shirt. He went over to the door that held the bathroom and looked into the mirror, Jongin smiled at himself, even if he was sweaty from bringing all his things to the room he looked pretty. He stripped and got into the shower for a quick wash before he dressed himself and left the room._

_The hallways were bustling with students and as Jongin stepped onto the carpeted floor he saw eyes flit his way and a small smirk came to his lips. He waved to those watching him and he saw the awe in their eyes and blushes on their cheeks, he new he looked fine and relished in those looks. He sauntered down the hall swaying himself gracefully as he heard the whispers around him,_

_"Wow, he's gorgeous"_

_"Is he a model?"_

_"I wonder what he looked like under those clothes"_

_"Looking at him makes me horny"_

_"How is he so good looking?"_

_Jongin took all the words in. Ever since he was little people praised him for his beautiful features and he'd be lying if he said it didn't go to his head, but he liked to think it was rightfully so because they weren't wrong, he too thought himself irresistible._

_He went up to this group of girls and boys who were outside one of the dorm doors just talking. "Hello" he said cheerfully, they all turned to look at him and instantly smiled "hey" they said in chorus._

_"I'm a little hungry do you know where I can find a place to eat?" Jongin asked feeling the eyes of the two boys on him and his chest grew as they roamed their eyes over him, admiring. The girls on the other hand looked jealous and rightfully so Jongin thought to himself._

_"Yeah, I can show you. There's a cafeteria downstairs that we passed" one of the boys said, he was handsome with his cute features and brown curly hair, he looked to be toned with the way his chest puffed out under his shirt and Jongin bit his lip and looked into his face "could you? I don't want to get lost"._

_One of the girls looked over at him and frowned a bit, Jongin looked at her and just smiled; yes you should feel threatened he thinks. She grips on to the males arm and looks up at him sadly "but Yoojung, we were going to go to a restaurant in a minute" the boy looked down at her, "it can wait a bit, Vic, I won't take long". He detached himself from her hands and walked over to Jongin who flashed another smile._

_"Thank you, I really owe you" Jongin said as they walked away, he looked back to the girl who stood with the two others; her eyes narrowed at him and he shrugged._

_They walked down a few flight of steps in the stairwell before the male throws himself on to Jongin. The smirk that rested on the males lips was triumphant. Yoojung, kissed him hard and desperately until Jongin encircled his arms around his neck and he hoisted him up. "You're so fucking sexy" Yoojung says before running his tongue over Jongin's neck earning a moan from him_ _._ _Jongin_ _let the male fuck him in the stairwell where his moans echoed before Yoojung finally took him to the cafeteria,_

_"Come by anytime sweet cheeks, I'll always show you a good time" Yoojung said before slapping Jongin's ass and walking away. Jongin felt giddy as he entered the cafeteria, this was going to be a good place._

 

 

_Weeks passed and Jongin has befriended most of the student body, or he was at least known by a lot of them. He's also been in bed with half of them, mostly the males as he was a sucker for some dick. He was lying in his bed and scrolling through his phone when he decided he really should go and check out the neighbourhood better, he hasn't really had a chance to, he's only been eating cafeteria food and he was getting tired of it._

_He got dressed in casual wear of T-shirt and jeans. He took the elevator at the end of the hall to the lobby and made his way to the sidewalk where he trudged on to the main street where all the shops and food places were. He walked down the concrete looking at the different signs until his eyes landed on one that jutted out of a stone wall of a shop. 'Desires' it read and Jongin's eyebrow shot up, intrigued. He went up to the store and looked at the blacked out window with just a sign that glowed 'Open'._ _Jongin opened the glass door and walked inside. There was another opening from where he stood in a square opening, a muscular man set on a stool and looked over at him warily._

_"ID" he gruffed out, opening his hand; palm up. Jongin took out his wallet hastily and slipped his ID into the guys hand, he looked at it and then back at Jongin. He thrusts the card back at the male and jerked his head to the opening "go on". The freshman walked past the muscular man and through the rectangular space._

_Jongin wasn't paying attention before but the music was pulsating. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was a strip club, with the stage so prominent in the middle of the room and poles jutting out of the top, there was a hot woman on dancing seducing the males who sat at tables near the front. Jongin looked to his left and of course there was a bar that seemed to be fully occupied. As he walked further in he noticed there was a lounging area where males were getting lap dances by different types of females, there were even males and Jongin became even more intrigued._

_Jongin sat on one of the couches in the plush area and picked up the drink menu, there were waiters walking around in skimpy outfits and Jongin called one over, a male. "Can I have a vodka?" the waiter just nodded and left to go get it. Jongin looked around more and saw that there was a group of strippers roaming around although they could've been waiters for all the knowledge Jongin had on the place. Jongin eyed a very tasteful male and they make eye contact when he looked over in the freshman's direction. Jongin coaxed him over with a finger and he obliged, sauntering over in his black satin panties and Jongin got hard just watching the bulge hidden behind them._

_"You wanted me?" the male asked seductively, straddling Jongin's lap and grinding lightly against him. The waiter comes back and gives Jongin his drink. The stripper takes the glass and boldly pours it all over his chest, Jongin's eyes twinkle with lust as he licked his lips. Resting his hand on the strippers waist as his grinding increased and Jongin's hard on intensified with the hot males cock bumping against his_ _Jongin bent his head and licked at the males chest before he grazes his tongue over the strippers nipple and he let out a moan. Jongin smirked; so you're sensitive here huh? He thinks to himself. He lightly bites the males pink bud and he let's out another choked moan. Jongin could feel the eyes of others on them and that always fuels him, he was gorgeous and he was going to put on a show for the adoring eyes._ _He pulls the stripper closer feeling the males hard on against his stomach, he licked and sucked at the males skin leaving hickeys all over and hearing the strippers groans ring out, more people were looking._ _Jongin let them all enjoy the show of the erotic scenes he made with rubbing the stripper and his own throbbing cocks together and the way he used his tongue to rile him up. The stripper came from just the stimulation and his long moan carried over the area._ _Those watching looked on in lust and want, Jongin pushed off the stripper; took his wallet out and paid for the vodka before walking out the club._

_But Jongin kept going back every other day until it turned into an everyday thing, he traded the lounge area for the stage and his given name for his stage name, Kai. He was the shops hottest stripper; the one everyone came to see work his body on the poll or over your lap, the one that went as far as to suck your dick in front of everyone's watchful eye because that's what he thrived on._

 

 

 

_Into the late night Kai slept in the bed of a male who had fucked him senseless, too tired to have left immediately. He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and went out into the short hallway, the male lived in an apartment; it was unexpectedly clean but a little odd for someone who lived alone to have two bedrooms. Jongin, being curious, walked up to the door and as he opened it his eyes widened. There sitting at a table was the man surrounded by bags and bags of different pills with different colours, he was stirring some kind of liquid in a glass bottle. "What the hell is this!?" Jongin exclaimed._

_The man turned around to see him, "do you really want to know?" he asks looking back down at the liquid he was stirring before pouring it into a small plastic bottle you would find at the hospital. Jongin didn't answer, just stood there looking around; He's never scene something of this scale before and he's been to the homes of many drug dealers. There was even some contraption with things Kai only ever saw in highschool science classes. "I make poisonous liquids" the man said matter-of-factly. Kai didn't stick around any longer and rushed to the door._

 

 

_Kai went back to his daily routine at the strip club, he even saw the man a few times but he stayed clear of him; that was until the stripper Taemin came on to the scene. At first he was harmless to Kai and he paid him no mind but soon the customers that usually requested him started asking for the male and Kai suddenly felt ill towards the stripper. He soon became more of a crowd favourite than Kai and that added to his ill feeling and soon all the watchful eyes that Kai loved and absorbed were watching Taemin and that snapped his ill feeling into hatred. He wanted to get rid of the stripper for good and so he befriended him with his sweet smile and kind words and thought up of an idea after nights and nights of thinking._

_Kai wasn't going to let some disgusting male come in and take his attention. He sought out the male this time; it wasn't hard he was a frequent customer, Kai used his charms on him to get back into his bed._

_"I thought you were scared of me and what I did" the man grunted while drilling him hard, Kai couldn't really think with all the pleasure he was feeling but he found a way to say, "teach me how to make a poisonous liquid" between his moans and groans. After their endeavours in bed, Kai stayed the night in the man's little room of pills he crushed and turned deadly. Kai learned that he sold them on the streets for cash, the stripper told the male his plan and he willingly helped without a word._

_It was a clear night when Kai took Taemin out for a drink, the stripper not knowing that Kai had already made beverages on hand. He looked over at the bartender and nodded; they sat at a table and Kai called over a waiter and ordered for the both of them given that Taemin didn't mind drinking anything. Their drinks came and both males sat there talking and drinking all the while Kai was feeling a sense of pleasure in knowing that the man in front of him, who was stealing all his attention wouldn't make it out the wayward bar alive._

_"Did yo-" Taemin was in the middle of a sentence when he clutched his stomach to which Kai looked at him patiently. Taemin started convulsing as if he was trying to throw up and a small smile climbed to Kai's lips. The stripper looked at the freshman now clutching throat, eyes wide with fear but Kai just smiled as he watched him slip from his chair and on to the ground; an attack of seizures coming over the male as he thrashed on the floor. Kai swiftly got up before anyone could react to the stripper and made his way towards the door feeling a new thrill in what he just did._

_Kai soon became a partner to the man he slept with once in a while, they worked together as he taught Jongin how to make different poisons and how and who to get the pills from. The two sort-of became a thing until the man didn't come back to the apartment one night and Jongin found out days later by one of their suppliers that he was murdered by a client._


	11. File Unlocked: Chen

Chen

September 21st 1992

Vanguard

 

 

_The muffled shouts from his parents made their way up to Chen's room. He sat on his bed, knees to his chest and holding a pillow over his ears to ward of all the loud arguing but it wasn't of much help. Grunting in frustration Chen throws the pillow across the room. His parents were always fighting, always swearing at each other and telling one another how annoying and worthless they were; sometimes they even got physical. All of it used to make Chen scared and sad, now it just made him angry and annoyed. They never payed any attention to him, it was like he was living on his own with two constantly yelling strangers._

_Chen jumps off his dinosaur covered sheets that he refused to acknowledge as childish for a first year in highschool. He pulled open his bedroom door and as he neared the top of the stairs the shouting grew in octaves._

_"YOU WORTHLESS CUNT, WHO PAYS THE BILLS AROUND HERE!?" he heard his dad shout._

_"SO NOW YOU THINK YOU OWN ANYTHING IN HERE BECAUSE YOU PAY BILLS? YOU FUCKING DOUCHE BAG, WHO BOUGHT THE HOUSE?" his mom countered back._

_Chen bounded down when steps in a rush going straight for the kitchen where his parents stood facing each other; both fuming red and pushing into each others space. Chen huffed and ran straight for them and forcefully pushed them apart. They both look at him annoyed and he glared right back._

_"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up, both of you! All you ever do is yell and fight!" Chen shouted. "You're not the only two who live here!"._

_The blow came quick and painful. His cheek burned as he looked to the right to where his head had been pushed by the force. Chen was shocked as he brought his hand up to his cheek and looked at his dad who's eyes were anything but regretful. "You incompetent brat!" he grabbed a fistful of the boys shirt. "How dare you shout at us like that, who feeds you in this house, who puts clothes on your back!?"_

_Chen pulls himself out of his grip and frowns at him "to fuck with that, do you even remember you have a kid!? You both just care about yourselves! You're both pieces of trash!"._

_"Why you-" his dad starts reaching forward to grab him but Chen ducks and rushes past him. "I wish I didn't have fuck ups for parents!" Chen yelled before running out the front door._

 

 

_The sun was going down and Chen still didn't want to go home, he was sure they were still arguing. The boy sat on a bench in a nearby park. Chen hated the way his life was, he didn't have any friends and no one took him seriously; he was just the kid that was too loud and dumb and was the offspring of two middle school dropouts. He brought his knees close to him and hugged them, looking like a tiny ball on the long bench. Why was he stuck with such uncaring parents? They never once remembered his birthday or said they loved him._

_His thoughts were soon interrupted by unexpected laughter. He lifted his head to look a few feet in front of him. Tall body's stood in a group kicking at something in the dirt ground near a garbage can and Chen raises and eyebrow? They all looked to be a year or two older than him. His eyes fall to where their feets thrashed and saw a lump curled up and it took Chen a minute to realise it was a person, he pushed his feet to the ground and sat up straighter, what the hell were they doing? Without thinking Chen got up and walked over,_

_"Hey!" he yelled. The group stopped their onslaught to look at the fast approaching boy but they then turned back around and resumed their assault. Chen frowned, "hey!" he shouted again but louder, not caring that it was already dark._

_They stopped again and this time they all turned fully to acknowledge him. "What do you want, punk!?" one of them snarled. They all looked intimidating as Chen stopped a few spaces away last, they wore all black attire with a lone patch of blue on the right arms of their leather jackets. Who were these guys?_

_"What are guys doing to him?" Chen pointed to the now visible male who was still curled up in a ball, bruises evident on his exposed skin. "Oh, we're just showing him a little lesson is all" the tallest one of the group smirked down at Chen. He_ _knew these guys were bad news "I'll call the cops!" he exclaimed seeing the male now roll onto his back, groaning slightly, "you'll be charged with assault. You all look old enough to get arrested"._

 _The group of males burst into laughter. The tallest one walks slowly over to Chen in a menacing way that had the boy backing up slightly with each step. The tall boy gripped onto Chen's shoulder and took a place behind him. "Call the cops? That's a nice joke" he says lowly._ _Chen's heart was thumping, the others also circled him; the battered boy on the ground, forgotten. "It's not a joke, I'll seriously do it. What are you? Some type of gang?" he mustered up a bit of confidence he always stored away for when he felt small, vulnerable._

 _"That's exactly what we are" the tall boy, Chen now assumed was the leader, talked close to his ear sending chills down his spine, "and we'd soon kill you before you could even take your phone out" he snarled before pushing the short boy to the ground._ _His bare arms scrape against the dirt as he tries to break his fall. He pushes himself up shakily and turns around to look up at the group of males; Chen's eyes widen at the open holes of a weapon he's only ever seen on TV action movies pointed directly at him. The open end of the guns looked dark and sinister as Chen sat there with fear gripping his chest. Where were his parents? Did they not notice he was still gone? Were they not even worried? Hurt and anger replaced the fear, did they really not love him at all?_

_"You're not running?" he heard the tall male ask and Chen looks up at him, the males gun still cocked. As they stared at each other, the taller male lowered his gun and signaled for the others to do the same. His stern features were replaced with a small smirk as he crouched down to Chen's level. He has never felt so small in his life, he's always made sure he's carried himself with confidence and maturity, standing as tall as any of those 6ft kids in his class._

_"Let me guess" the tall leader started "deadbeat parents?" Chen looked at him and a smile broke against the males fast making him less scary to Chen and giving the tall male a younger look. "How did-" Chen started only to be cut off,_ _"Because we all have been part of dysfunctional families, we are all victims of drug addicts, alcoholics and constantly bickering parents" the tall male spoke._

_"You were?" Chen questioned now looking around at the other males faces that still stood around him watching the interaction. The tallest male nodded "yes, we all met each other doing random crap to break the law and decided to become our own family" he informed._

_Chen didn't know what to say, how could a bunch of kids just make their own family? Looking at all of them, kids having never felt their parents love just like him, kids who consider themselves to be alone and took it upon themselves to find something close to a bond to share. They all had something in common they could relish in, they were dysfunctional; they had no one, alone. Suddenly the group of males looked anything but intimating to Chen, they looked almost like soldiers coming to save him from the rubble that was now his parents and home._

_"What's your name, kid?" the tall male asked. "Chen" he answered sitting up straighter, now eye level with the fluffy haired leader._

_"Well, Chen. I'm Taekwoon but the group just calls me Tae" he held his hand out to Chen and the boy stared at if for a while before grabbing it. "If you ever feel like you want out, you can join us. We will welcome you with open arms"._

 

 

 

_Chen didn't need to think much about it, nothing changed. His parents still acted like he didn't exist and kids at school still talked about him behind his back. He sought the group out, Tae had let him know where he could find them and now he was standing in front of an abandoned garage area, it was behind to buildings in a grungy area that resembled and alleyway but there were termite eaten homes scattering about._

_He knocked against the aluminium door and winced at the loud noise it made against the silent space. Was this really it? Just then the garage door opened and a face dressed in a black masked looked at him. The gun appeared quickly, aiming at Chen and he backed up fearfully but luckily at that time the familiar face of Tae appeared and he signaled for the boy to lower his gun._ _Tae smiled at Chen and gesture to him to come inside "welcome to the family, kid"._

 

 

_From then on, Chen spent every waking minute with his new group of friends, his family. He rarely ever went home and he was sure his parents didn't even bat an eye. The gang always went out to wreck havoc among the city, breaking rules and being the outcasted, dysfunctional kids they were. They even had run ins with the police but always somehow out ran them. Chen loved it, he loved the thrill of not knowing what will come, the thrill of letting go. Tae took him under his wing and taught him how to shoot a gun, how to use a knife he was like an older brother to the younger. Chen never knew why they had these weapons when all they did was vandalize places and break store windows or other stuff of the sort. But that was until Chen learned that they weren't the only gang in the area._

_It happened one night when the whole group was chilling in the garage a loud crash halted everyone's action and their heads turned towards the aluminum grlarage door. Another loud crash came and Tae soon stood. "Graitors" he said and with just that one word everyone was in action. Weapons being prepped as Chen still sat confused._

_"What's a Graitor?" Chen asked as more bangs came and he saw the garage door denting. "An enemy" Tae said simply, loading his guns. He then turned to Chen._ _"You're going to have to fight kid" more bangs sounded and the garage door was denting in more. Chen's chest was hammering, he didn't know what was going on. "What do you mean?" Chen asked incredulously._

"Chen, kid. You're going to have to use those lessons I gave you and shoot at these motherfuckers, slice them if you have to. We don't have time for explanations. You joined us, you fight with us, you die with us" Tae says in a low tone, a serious look in his eyes. And Chen for the first time since he's come into the group was wallowing with fear, his hands trembled over the gun Tae put in his hand. How did it get to this? He still didn't know what was going on, were Graitors here to kill them? Chen realized he didn't know anything about the life he chose. He never once considered What the risks were.

"And you better hope and pray, you don't die, kid" just then the garage busted in and without a warning shots rung out. Chen saw two of their groups men fall to the round, blood pooling around them. Chen gasped but there was no time to take in the sight because to shots whizz past his ear and he recoils, ducking behind a table. 

"You guys are going to die today, it's finally time we became the only gang in the area. You fucks need to be offed!" Chen heard a gruff voice shout out. All around him Chen saw chaos of boys fighting, firing shots, stabbing one another. He's never seen so many blood and dead body's in one place. Some were even outside fighting. Chen cowered behind the table until he felt a hand around his neck. Chen feared for his life and started thrashing. He took the knife Tae told him to always keep in his waistband and lodged it into the side of his attackers throat. Blood spurted and Chen backed up in horror. What did he just do? Did he just stab someone? The persons body slumped to the ground.

All Chen heard was the loud shouts and gunshots along with his thumping heart. What did he get himself into? Why did he leave home? Why didn't he just go back? But the thought of his parent's came to his mind; arguing, yelling and ignoring him. Years and years of being set as some random block of stone in their house as they went at it day and night, not asking or caring if he was okay or if he had a good day at school, they probably didn't even know how old he was or what grade he was in. His chest burned, that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted a family, something to protect and feel welcomed in, a family where you don't worry about being ignored, he wanted something to fight for to feel pride for. He stopped and dislodged the knife from the dead guys throat. Watching the blood pool from his neck switched something in Chen. He no longer felt fearful. He looked back to the mass of bodies having at each other and he suddenly felt pride and thrill, he wanted to protect this place, he wanted to protect the people he's come to know, that has become his family. 

Chen walked out into the chaos and immediately men from the opposing gang lunged at him, only for the boy to slit their throats so deep, you can see the big slab of flesh peel back. Blood sprayed over his face but he didn't acknowledge it. His heart was thumping but for a different reason. He lodged his knife into the chest of another attacker stabbing him multiple times only to take it out swiftly and sticking it into the the eye of someone else. This was fun, he thought to himself. This was the thrill of feeling useful, being able to protect a family who welcomed him, treated him well, didn't cast him aside as a nobody because they were already nobodies. Yes, they were nobodies; no one would miss any of them, no one would care whether they died; they were on their own to protect each other. Chen soon felt nothing as he cut through bodies like a grass cutter. Helping his mates who he saw was struggling. 

But one shot rung out louder than any of the others. Chen saw, and he wished he had been blind, Chen heard and he wished he had been deaf. The scruffy leader of the opposing gang held his arm out, the cold weapon pointed and Tae's body going rigid as he stood still until he was falling back. To Chen it was in slow motion and Tae's body took too long to hit the concrete ground for him to ignore it and pretend it was a dream. Tae slumped slightly on to his side and his shocked filled eyes were staring right at Chen as the life drained from them rapidly. Chen stood frozen looking at the male, his blood running and somehow that snapped Chen back into reality. Chen looked at the man who shot the gun and without him knowing, he was rushing forward with speed he didn't know he could muster. His knife was gripped in his hand as he jumped on the scruffy male. He was surprised but Chen felt white hot in his chest, It burned to the ribs.

"You should've hoped and  prayed, you didn't die"  Chen said in a dark tone.

"Wha-?" the male started but Chen couldn't hear, see or feel. Something completely snapped inside of him. And he stabbed the man in the face, his screams ringing out. Again and again he lodged and dislodged the knife into the now dead man's face. A bubbling laugh made its way out his mouth, slowly turning hysteric. Chen didn't know then, but this was the life his mind would become a slave to. This was the life he would continue with for Tae and the others; he prayed, everyday from then on, that he wouldn't die, everyone else will. 


	12. Episode 7: Outside In

Sehun and Jeonho push the two criminals into the cell with the others. "What the hell, man! I don't deserve to be here, I didn't do nothing!" Chen said gripping the steel bars. "And to think, I was about to give you my service" Kai folded his arms and shook his head, his presence surprisingly light in the dim square space.

"Oh? It's you again? Got caught trying to stab someone else in the back?" Baekhyun speaks up from where he sat, looking at Kai who's eyes widened, "oh! It's pretty boy!" Baekhyun frowned, "never call me that again". Kai pouted as he went to take a seat next to the small male, he ran a finger up Baekhyun's thigh and brought his mouth close to his ear. "Awe don't be like that. I thought we had a sort of connection" the alluring male whispered, "the way you let me do anything I wanted to you, for money".

Kai's finger was teasingly playing with the frayed holes of Baekhyun's pants and he hated how his body was reacting to such tactics. "What connection? If I remember correctly, and I do, you forced yourself on to me" Baekhyun unfolded his arms to push the male away but he was pulled back before Baekhyun could get the chance. 

"Down, boy, down" Lay said while holding the collar of Kai's shirt making him lean back uncomfortably. The sexy male turned around and he gasped, "Wendy!? His eyes went to the person beside the doctor, "they got you to!?" the small woman had a passive look on her face as she came eye to eye with the male, she then rolled them and turned her back to him. Kai pouted again "Lay, what did you do? My beautiful flower isn't talking to me" Kai leaned into the doctor and Baekhyun took a breath of relief having been forgotten by the male. 

"That's all you Kai, what did you think would happen when you basically stole her boyfriend?" Lay crossed his arms, a look of disappointment on his face. 

Sehun and Jeonho watched the exchanges with new interest all the while Chen was still yelling profanities at them and saying things along the lines of 'I'll blow your stomach wide open' and other vivid things that made Sehun cringe. 

"Wow" Jeonho spoke up and Sehun looked at him curiously, "what?" he asked.

"I don't know. After finally capturing them and seeing them up close I thought they'd be" he furrowed his eyebrows, thinking "cooler, more intense" he finished, "they seem like regular people". Sehun shook his head with a small smile on his lips "yeah, regular people who can casually blow a hole in your head and walk away untainted" he said darkly sarcastic. 

The smile didn't last long as Sehun turned his back on the bickering criminals and started walking over to Chief who was frantically talking on the phone. All around, the people who worked at the desks were typing away on their keyboards and making phone calls. 

"What do you mean, you can't find anything?!" Chief shouted, "how the hell did the buildings collapse then? By magic!?" his face was red with anger and Sehun squared his shoulders knowing that when the Chief was angry with someone he was angry with everyone. 

"You better find something Leeteuk! Or I'm taking your badge away!" Chief then slammed the phone back into the receiver. He huffed out a breath while resting his hands on his hips. Sehun looked up at the TVs that sat in the corner of the wall, news stations were still reporting about the event that just took place. They were even talking about the lynching of the four civilians from days ago. 

"Chief" Sehun started. 

"What!" he shouted turning to him and Sehun flinched but stood his ground. "What are we going to do? The people are getting scared by the day with these things keep happening" he looked back at the holding cell to see Jeonho and a few other officers standing in the cell trying to pull a scrapping Chen and Kai apart. 

"I don't know how those guys are still operating while locked up, but we have to find the others fast" Sehun turned back to his boss who only glared at him.

"Don't you get it Sehun! It's because it's not them!" Chief pointed aggressively behind the tall male. "I've been trying to get you to see it my way but you rather believe what an incompetent officer has to say!". Sehun's mouth was slack as he looked into the burning eyes of his Chief, the older males hands clamp down on Sehun's shoulders and turn him around swiftly to look back at the cell. Jeonho and the officers were still in there now trying to keep back the four arguing criminals, even Wendy was having at it. 

"Does that look like a group of criminals that are organising attacks on the city?" Chief questions, the anger dulling from his voice. He poked Sehun's temple softly, "Think, Sehun".

It didn't, Sehun looked on. They looked like a bunch of criminals who knew about each other but have never once interacted willingly, it looked to be only Lay who knew them all on a less shallow level, just like he stated. Why didn't he see it before? Was he too caught up in capturing them and it just seemed plausible to blame it on them? Was he too afraid to acknowledge that there was someone in the shadows plotting against them? It was probably all of the above.

"So who is it? Who's doing all this?" Sehun asked in a low voice not sure if the Chief heard him. The sigh that followed was all the answer Sehun needed, he didn't know. 

"That's why I had Leeteuk take some of his guys to go investigate while the fire department and ambulance searched for injured people" the older man raked his hand through his already disheveled hair, Sehun turned to look at him and could see his age poke through the stressful look he wore. "But they haven't found a thing, not a bomb, or a piece of clothing or even discarded equipment".

"How did whoever did this blow up those buildings if not for a bomb?" Sehun's mind was jumbled. This person seemed to do things as if he were a ghost in thin air, no clues ever left behind that can be traced back to anything or anyone. 

"Evidence can be destroyed" Sehun jumped at the sudden and foreign voice and he crashed into the Chief who also looked taken aback, both having been in their own world. Sehun lifted his head slightly to look at the male, something he's never had to do, being one of the tallest on the force; the exception being Minho who was a whole head taller. Sehun gasped inwardly at the mysterious males appearance, where did he come from? Sehun thought. He was wearing their departments uniform but what made him odd looking was the hood that fell over half his face, Sehun couldn't see his eyes only his mouth and part of his nose peeking under the fabric. The stranger smiled although to Sehun it looked more like a smirk. 

"Who are you?" Sehun said straightening up. Now that he was standing upright, the male only had half a head on him. 

"Oh, Chanyeol, it's you." Chief stated suddenly behind the tall detective, Sehun turned around to look at him. "You know this guy?", the Chief rounded Sehun and went to stand by the new males side, encircling an arm over his shoulder. "Sehun, this is Chanyeol. Our new recruit, in fact he was transferred over here by the same department you use to work at in Lancor" Chief informed. 

Sehun's eyes widen and he turns his attention back to the hooded boy who looked quite honestly, menacing. Sehun couldn't tell where he was looking but he felt as if he was staring holes into his own eyes. He came from Lancor? He didn't remember seeing anyone that looked like this there but then again Sehun never really did pay attention to a lot of the staff unless he had to work with them. 

"I'm surprised you don't know him" Chief voiced curiously and Sehun shrugged "I wasn't much of a socialite over there, just business".

"Doesn't seem like things have changed much. But this guy here knew a lot about you" he patted the hooded males back who smiled at Sehun. For some reason this guy gave Sehun the creeps, the way he just showed up out of nowhere and even came from the same department he used to be at, claiming to know him. It all seemed weird to the detective, but Chief looked unbothered and unconcerned, smiling at the new recruit. 

"Really?" Sehun questioned and Chief nodded "said he used to admire you back in Lancor, the way you were hardworking and always did things thoroughly. He trained hard and asked to be transferred here". Chief burst out in a hearty laughter, his anger completely forgotten, "I didn't know you were that influential, kid".

"Sir-" Sehun started, not knowing what to say feeling a little stunned and caught off guard but Chief just turned around, "Jeonho, come over here!" he called. Sehun's partner, finally leaving the cell with the officers who were locking the door back up, looked over to them, confused. He started walking over, his eyes going from Chief to Sehun and lastly to the new guy. Jeonho came up and stood beside Sehun,

"I'm putting Chanyeol in your team" Chief stated and both detectives mouths open in surprise, "what?" they both say in unison. 

"Don't worry, the kids a good shot, I've seen him in training. He'll be useful for when you go out to arrest the other four" Chief pushed the boy slightly towards them and if Sehun wasn't mistaken he saw his mouth turn down into a frown briefly. 

"But, Chief, we're doing fine on our own" Sehun stated and chief sighed, "don't think I can't see those bruises Sehun".

"Bruises are normal in our line of work!" the taller exclaimed. "Yes but what if you weren't so lucky and got hit by bullet or had to handle someone out of your league. You're a detective, Sehun not a part of the S.W.A.T. The kid is good back up, you'll see". Sehun goes to open his mouth to say something else but was silenced by the department head,

"No more arguing, it's final" the Chief pointed at him. "For now, get back to finding the others of OT8, I think I have an idea but for now I'll go to the destruction sight and consult with Leeteuk" he went over to a chair and picked up his coat, "it's best if you guys go home for the night" Chief says before he's out the door. 

Sehun was shocked into place, it was Jeonho who spoke first. He walked up to the boy, Chanyeol, and held out his hand "please, take care of us". Sehun watched on. Chanyeol took his partners hand and shook it firmly "I'll try my best" his deep voice resonated between them and he turned to Sehun who walked up between the two to get through, "to pretend like I care" Sehun stopped, hearing the soft mumble of words he turned to the hooded male.

"What?" he questioned but the dark male just tilted his head, the fabric of the hood brushing against his cheek "hmm? I didn't say anything". Sehun watches him, something about this male set him the wrong way, he was dreading the fact that he now had to work with him. What was Chief thinking? He turned and walked over to where he discarded his jacket and pulled it on,

"Jeonho, let's go" Sehun stated and his partner nodded going over. "See you tomorrow" Sehun heard Chanyeol say but he just kept walking. 

 

Pheonix watched the two detectives leave and he grins. For a pair of males who found hidden people for a living and uncovered identities, they were surprisingly oblivious. Although Phoenix felt like the tall one was a bit skeptical of him but it only put a feeling of thrill in his chest, he wanted to laugh. Stupid police. Pheonix had been working to get into the department for a while, with the help of a few people, one who gave him his fake identity as Chanyeol; a male who was from Lancor and idolized Sehun, that was good at playing many instruments and had a hobby of bowling. Pheonix shook his head, all useless stuff. 

He felt eyes on him and he looked to his right slightly, to see the bunch of lame criminals looking over at him. He turned lazily on the balls of his feet, his hood slightly moving. Some of the other desk workers were leaving for the night, not being discreet in the way they gave him weird looks; the tall male scoffed. When he got to the barred door of the cell he stood there looking in.

"You're not an officer" one of them stated quietly, it was the one Pheonix knew as Baekhyun. The hooded male smirked and licked his lips. He went closer to where the small male sat cross legged. 

"Yes I am, Shortcake" Pheonix said playfully and only smiled more as he saw the clench of Baekhyun's jaw. So sexy. 

"Don't call me that" Baekhyun said tightly. "Short straw, then?" Pheonix only teased more. 

Baekhyun abruptly got up and glared up at him, "call me short one more time, and I'll shank you". Baekhyun was getting irritated by this guy who's smirk never left his stupid face. Who was he any way? Like hell he was an officer.

Pheonix leaned his forearm against the bars and bent slightly to somewhat meet the short males face without bending his knees. "feisty, I like it. That sounds very pleasurable, shortcake. Will you have me screaming while you shank me? I don't see any weapon, will you be using something else?" Pheonix laughed lowly as Baekhyun's eyes widen at the blatant suggestion before his brows furrowed deeper, so hot, Pheonix thought, he wanted to heat him up some more. 

Baekhyun grabbed the front of Phoenix's shirt "you fucking imbecile, like I would give you the satisfaction of having me".

"He's kind of hot, though" Baekhyun heard Kai say from the other side of the cell "shut up you skank".

"Playing hard to get only gives me more incentive, sweet lips" Phoenix stated. Baekhyun made a face at his words. The short male couldn't see the weird officers face but from the smile that graced his lips he could tell the male was smug. 

"No one is playing hard to get" Baekhyun said still gripping the tall males uniform, he had to admit his build was nice and the outfit fit him well but he'd be damned if he let his mind knock around those thoughts "I'm just way out of your league".

"Well shit, Baekhyun. If you don't want him give him to me, he looks so tall and delicious" Kai spoke up again. 

"Better hurry up and claim me short straw, I'm not always a free man" Phoenix says with amusement lacing his tone. Baekhyun turned around to Kai "is everything that you say sex related?" he questioned.

"Well, the only thing I put in there are dicks and alcohol, so yeah." he said without any shame. "And the only thing that comes out is crap" Chen piped up from where he sat on the floor, his head resting in his hands.

Pheonix's smile faded as he feels eyes on him, a distracted Baekhyun was only slightly gripping onto his shirt while he bickered with the gorgeous bronze skinned male, with the guy harbouring solid high cheekbones telling them to shut up so he could sleep. Pheonix lifted his head to see Lay frowning deeply at him, eyes dark to which Pheonix only looked on from under his hood, undeterred. 

The tall male slipped from Baekhyun's already loosened grasp and left the bickering men in the now empty room, turning off the lights and disappearing. 

\------------------

"So how are we going to find these other four?" Jeonho asked as they sat in Sehun's living room. Sometimes the two met up here if they didn't want to be around the department or people, it helped with much needed discussions. The room was a set of cozy beiges and browns, Sehun wasn't much for bright colours although his kitchen was white. 

"Up to now, we've had some help in locating them, whether it be on accident or intentional" Jeonho continued drinking the coffee Sehun had made. 

"Well we still have Baekhyun and Yixing, they could still help" Sehun stated. "But wasn't that just for that one night, now we have to find a way to let them off the hook and pay them or we die a gruesome death" Jeonho spoke up. Sehun sighed, "why did you have to go and spew that mess?".

"I was frustrated and in the moment, I felt proud we had found out a secret of theirs and felt bold. Could you blame me?" he said into his cup, muffling his voice but it was still audible to Sehun. 

"Yes, yes I can. Next time speak for yourself" the taller said running a hand through his hair. Jeonho lowered his mug and pouted "but we're partners". Sehun looked at the grown man weirdly before laughing. "Well, we didn't exactly specify that it was just that one night, so we can use that and still make them help us".

"Wow. Police officials asking criminals for help, never thought I'd see the day" the two detectives stop their conversation and look over at the young officer. 

Sehun had totally forgotten he was with them, Chief had told him to include the boy in all they did, so he can get experience and because he was now part of their team. Sehun couldn't come to like the male even if Jeonho seemed surprisingly comfortable with him. He still wore that black hood over his face and it just set Sehun on edge not knowing where he was looking or what he was thinking. It was like as soon as you took your eyes off of him, he disappeared like he wasn't there until you looked at him again, his presence was silent yet overbearingly daunting.

"We're detectives not police officers, we use all the resources and methods we have to fully complete our cases" Sehun stated. 

Chanyeol put down the mug of coffee and folded his hands behind his head, leaning back and getting comfortable, Sehun formed his mouth into a thin line. "Detectives, police officers, what's the difference? You're both part of the same system, the same department". The hooded male stated. 

"You're fingers" Chanyeol said randomly and removed one of his hands from behind his head to point at Sehun's hands. "They're very nimble, do you play piano? You look like someone who'd be fast at typing on a computer keyboard. Why not be part of those desk jobs at the department? Why not go into Special Ops?" the bombardment of questions were unsettling to Sehun. 

"Wow, you're pretty observant. Sehun is really good with computers, you should've seen the way he deciphered and found the logo to the criminal club. There were codes and stuff I didn't even understand but Sehun looked comfortable with them" Jeonho babbled to the young officer who smiled. "Is that so?" is all he said. 

"Okay, enough. This isn't story sharing hour or get to know each other hour, I was just a computer nerd as a kid; now let's get back to the task at hand" Sehun dismissed. He turned back to the officer, "why don't you contribute to our discussion? Have you even read up on our case?" Sehun grilled, annoyed. 

Chanyeol sat up and leaned forward, lazily clasping his hands in front of him. Sehun noticed that the guys movements weren't exactly slow with the nonchalant and non caring demeanor he gave off but swift and precise. He new exactly what he wanted to do, there was no fidgeting or off movements. 

"As a matter of fact, I did. I checked the files on your case and familiarized myself with them" Chanyeol said. Sehun huffed, he was hoping to have something against him, "well, those files aren't exactly useful" he turned back to Jeonho who was finishing his coffee and nodded in agreement. 

"How so? I thought they held enough information" Chanyeol stated before mumbling 'surprisingly' under his breath. Sehun raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jeonho who shrugged. "Were you reading the same files? There was barely anything".

The young officers laughed lowly, if Sehun had to scrap for something he liked about the guy it would be his voice. It was surprisingly soothing with how deep it came out. "For a bunch of detectives in the field for how many years, you're surprisingly lenient to evidence" Chanyeol said. 

Sehun frowned slightly in confusion "what are you talking about?" he asked. "Well for one, there was one on a drug dealer" The two detectives nodded and Chanyeol scoffed "isn't that enough base knowledge to get you to go stake out the drug dealing criminals?" he informed. There was silence to which the young officer only shook his head, his hood swishing at the ends and Sehun frowned, was he looking down on them now? He did admit, he felt a bit stupid for not paying enough attention. "You were cooler back in Lancor" Chanyeol said, getting up. 

Sehun's mouth fell open. So he really come from his last department? He now felt the slight need to show him he knew what he was doing and that he was good at what he was doing. He got up too and Jeonho followed, "let's go to the department and get geared up" Sehun stated before brushing past the young officer to get to his hook where his jacket rested. But he was stopped by a long forearm. He looked up at the hood covered face of Chanyeol.

"What are you doing?" he questioned. "You're going about this all wrong" he informed and Sehun crossed his arms, "And why do you think that?".

"We're going to need bait for these drug dealers, they won't be kind to police officers or those from the department if you just go up to them" Chanyeol stated and Sehun looked at him for once agreeing with him. "So you can't look like a detective; no badge or gear. You could keep a gun in the waist of your pants if anything goes awry"

Chanyeol lowered his hand from Sehun's chest and he looked back at his partner who shrugged, "it makes a lot of sense. Kind of like when you went undercover at the casino club".

"Good, we're all on board. As for me" the young officer said, taking his gun from the holster and twirling it on his finger, Sehun scoffed at his antics. "I'll keep hidden and give you the back up you need" he turned around to Sehun holding up the gun in a shooting motion and pretended to take a shot at Sehun's head.

The tall detective went still as he stared at the open barrel and the smiling officer, a chill went up his spine even as Chanyeol lowered the cold metal object. What was that? His heart hammered in his chest, it was like he was really aiming at him. Sehun shook his head and began to follow the other two who already left out the front door, He was surely going crazy. 

 

 

 

They parked the car near the curb. Sehun had driven them to the downtown area where he new drug dealers lurked around. The same place where he had caught Baekhyun, the red brick apartments and black iron fire escapes. 

"I'll be close by, try not to get yourself into too much trouble" Chanyeol said, gearing himself up; they had went back to the department for him only. He spent a while in the weapons room something about finding the right tools for him. Sehun scoffed at the males words "we aren't newbies. We know how to handle a few drug dealers".

"From what I heard, you cause a lot of scenes" the hooded male tucked a handgun in the back of his pants. Sehun raised an eyebrow, "where's your uniform?" he asked the male, now noticing he was just in his regular black hoodie with some ripped black jeans and not the navy blue slacks and shirt the officers usually wore or a bullet proof vest.

"There's no need, it's restrictive and I won't be in anyone's line of sight, anyways. Not if I don't need to be" a small smirk graced his lips. Sehun didn't question any further, he's already noticed that the young male was overall just weird.

"Let's go, Jeonho" Sehun said getting out of the car. Already they could see guys and girls alike hanging out in the cracks between buildings or openly lurking on the streets. Not much civilians lived in the area, only those who couldn't afford proper housing or their own homes. It was kind of known as the slumps of Ilcan.

"We know the guy is a drug dealer, but we don't know what he looks like" Jeonho said as they walked down the side walk slowly, looking at the misfits who stared them down equally. Both Sehun and his partner were wearing casual clothing, not too clean to be recognized as people who lived uptown, but not too shabby that they look easy to target. It seemed like being a criminal was harder than Sehun thought. 

"Well Chanyeol said he asked around before hand using some specifics from the files, said to look for a short, sturdy guy with cat like eyes" Sehun shrugged. 

"I can't believe we're letting a newbie dictate our case" Jeonho said, looking around. Sehun couldn't believe it himself but somehow Chanyeol seemed to know what he was talking about even though it seemed he was very mocking with his information. 

"Well, I guess it's nice to have a fresh pair of eyes and he seems reliable. Even if I don't like him that much" Sehun said as they turned into an alleyway, passing by gruff looking males. They seemed to be scrutinizing them and trying to determine whether to jump them or not, so far their disguises worked. 

"Yeah, why is that?" Jeonho questioned "is it because he's showed you up a couple times now?" his partner snickered. Sehun turned to him and frowned "no" he says "he just seems too mysterious. I don't like how he just showed up out of nowhere".

"That was sudden but we get new recruits all the time" Jeonho states, Sehun shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the hardness of the gun in the waist of his pants "yeah, but none get put on the job that quick, no matter how good they are". 

"It's the hood isn't it" his partner concluded "the whole dark aura of it" Sehun nodded. "Exactly. What's with that? Why is he wearing it like that? I get the itch to rip it off his head; it seems like he's hiding something".

"He could just be ugly" Jeonho pipes up and Sehun nods thoughtfully "that's also plausible". Just then two people approach them and the two partners freeze. 

"You guys look lost, you new?" there were a total of two men and one girl, she was beautiful Sehun noted as his eyes landed on her. Sehun's mouth grew dry, he never really got used to how common it has become for him to go deeper into the criminal side of things and not just sit at the surface looking at clues and helping close murder cases. 

"We're new, so what?" Jeonho said firmly. Sehun observed the criminals, one male had blonde hair swept back in a style that made him look out of place and like he should be sitting at an expensive family dinner; his frame was reminiscent of a woman but still manly with the broad shoulders and thin waist, his features were feminine and cute too. The other male was taller, he had a sharp nose with nice masculine features and black cropped hair; the girl had an expressionless look but her small face and bunny like features made Sehun kind of smile wanly. 

"All the others have been eyeing you since you walked by, if you don't get out of here they'll jump you soon, trying to get you in on the drug business or sell you some; they can be very agressive" the girl spoke. Sehun and Jeonho look back from where they came and saw that they were right; those in the open space were eyeing them with a sort of hunger that made Sehun's skin crawl at the thought of being bombarded by them. "Come with us, we can get you out of here" the feminine male said. 

"Boss said not to bring in any more strays" the other male said "thats how we got Baekhyun and he turned out to be bad for the crew. All that money he stole". The three of them look at the two detectives and the feminine guy laughs. "They look harmless plus boss won't mind, we've been needing new hands anyways".

So they knew Baekhyun? Sehun thought, he snuck a glance at his partner who gave him a slight nod, he was thinking the same thing. Sehun felt a hand on his back pushing him forward, "hurry let's go before the others notice you're not with us and come at you" the blonde guy states. Sehun stumbles forward but follows. 

They walk behind the brick building by a fence. "So are you guys here to buy some drugs?" the black haired guy asked, Sehun nodded without hesitation. He looked behind him at the empty space, seeing no one not even a shadow; where was Chanyeol? He said he'd be close by. "Well you can buy from us, we have the best of the best. Even stuff you've never even heard of; we will give you a nice price. We don't cause trouble unless you steal from us or don't pay up".

Sehun looked ahead as they stop by a dark green dumpster. He was confused, why were they here? Did they make the wrong judgement to follow these people? Sehun was about to speak up when the blonde guy heaves himself up onto the dumpster, he holds his hand out for the girl and pulls her up. The other guy follows without trouble. Sehun watched as the feminine looking guy starts climbing up a pipe at the side of the brick building, the girl following. What the hell?

"Come on" the black haired guy holds out his hand. Jeonho was the first to take it, Sehun was surprised with how brave his partner was, maybe he should've been the one to go under cover at the bar last night things probably would've gone differently. 

Sehun was next, his feet clambered onto the metal of the object. Sehun secretly thanked the lord that highschool gym class had the rope climbing requirement or he would be a fumbling lamb trying to clime the pipe. He managed fairly well as he gripped the blonde haired guys hand as he pulled Sehun through the open window. They now stood in a dimly lit apartment with barely any furniture, there was a shabby table holding tons of pills and injection needles and other things Sehun didn't know, a few people roamed around but turned their heads as soon as they saw the intruders. There was another opened window on the other wall facing down into the streets, a hallway to the left with a couple doors and a kitchen built into the wall. Mold was prominent in the place but it wasn't too overbearing, it looked as if it's been cleaned as much as it could. Actually the whole placed looked clean for its grungy aura. The lone couch and random chairs placed in a neat way in the open living space, some around the table where two kids worked. 

"Taemin" one of the people came over, a fairly tall guy with a nice face "who are these people?" his voice was soft but his face looked hooded, he was high Sehun thought. "Xiumin would not approve" he stated his eyes falling on the two detectives lazily.

"Shut up Max" the blonde guy, Taemin, said "it'll be fine, they're here to buy some drugs. Xiumin would be happy we brought in service" he patted Sehun's back. Who was Xiumin? Their boss? It seemed very likely, the way they talked about him, with high authority. "Is that the guy in charge?" Sehun voiced his thoughts. 

"Yeah, he's our boss. He's out now but he'll be back soon" Taemin spoke while Sehun saw the girl go over to the two kids to show them something and the black haired guy holds down the hall to a door that looked to be the bathroom. 

"Taemin, stop telling outsiders unnecessary things" Max argued. Taemin rolled his eyes and pointed to the patched up couch "you guys can wait there. What kind of bags you want?" Sehun looked at him confused "what?". Taemin laughed "what's your preferred substance, wow you guys really are noobs".

"Ah. How about cocaine?" Sehun shrugged and looked at Jeonho who nodded "ew. So basic, why not try something out of the box", Taemin says "how about these purple pills?" he goes over to the table and picks up an oval shaped pill. "Take one and you'll be seeing only colours for days" or this, he held up a bottle and a needle "we bagged these from some other drug dealers, take it and it'll make you so hormonolly crazed you'd be sleeping with any girl" he put them down "but we usually use that as a punishment". 

Sehun couldn't believe what he was hearing. Where do people get this stuff from? Who makes them? His mind goes to the room of handmade medicines at the hospital that Yixing concocted, did he somehow have a hand in these? Sehun wouldn't be surprised. "Where did you get all this stuff?" he asked,

"Some men in black come by regu-" Taemin got cut off by Max's hand covering his mouth "shut up, you idiot" he hissed. 

"Cocaine is fine" Jeonho spoke up, he had been walking around looking at everything. Max lowered his hand "get them what they want and send them off".

Taemin huffed and went through the stuff on the table and then in the black duffel bags on the floor. "Where's Chanyeol?" Sehun heard Jeonho softly whisper "I don't know either, he has to be somewhere close by. Maybe he's waiting for something to go bad". Jeonho slumped on to the couch "well he's sure good at hiding", Sehun looked out the opposite window and at the building across the street following his partners actions. "Yeah, he is".

"Here you guys go" Taemin came back over with two baggies full of white powder "50 bucks" he said and Sehun's mouths falls open, "isn't that a lot?" he said and Taemin just smiled "usually we sell if for 70 but this moron is giving you a discount" Max informed folding his arms and glaring at the blonde male. 

"Ah, well." Sehun said as he patted the back of his pants, knowing he didn't have that kind of money on him. Jeonho was doing the same thing. "Actually, you can take it back" Sehun said and Taemin's smile falls into a frown, "what do you mean?".

"I mean we don-" Sehun began to say but a loud thud behind them interrupted his words. The four males look behind them to see a guy dusting himself off. He was short, for sure but his build was very nice and full. He looked muscular and had black curly hair. 

"You ask for it, you buy it" the new male said, straightening up. His eyes landed on the two guys sitting on the couch, when his eyes glided over to Sehun his brows furrowed deeper and his hand went quickly to his waist and brought the hidden gun up. It was the eyes that caught Sehun first "it's him" Sehun whispered to Jeonho, somehow Sehun saw it coming and pulled Jeonho down to the floor just as a shot rung off. 

"What the hell Xiumin, they're just buyers!" Sehun heard Taemin say, Jeonho looked at Sehun "the drug dealer?" the tall male nodded. 

"The hell they are, that guy is a cop!" Xiumin shouted and another shot rung out. Taemin and Max looked down at them and they had to hurriedly get up, there was no place to hide, they were surrounded and in the open. 

"Shit!" Sehun said and soon everyone's eyes were on them. The noise of guns being cocked sounded around the room and Jeonho and Sehun branded their own backing up to a wall. 

"Fuck, Taemin! I told you to shut up, I told you to take them out" Sehun saw Max say, his own gun trained on him. "That's the same guy who was after Baekhyun!" Xiumin pointed at Sehun. The detectives eyes furrowed, how did he know that? Was he there that day? He didn't see anyone. 

It was about 15 guys against two and Sehun has never felt so trapped before. "What are we going to do?" Jeonho hissed. Sehun looked around until his eyes landed on the table, without a second thought he grabbed Jeonho's hand and ran over actively setting everything off. Shots after shots were pelted at them, one clipped Sehun in the arm and he yelled, gripping it and falling by the table. With help from Jeonho they both tipped it so they could use it as a shield making the pills and bottles clamber to the floor; some breaking and releasing liquid on to the wooden floors. It trapped them in the hallway while everyone else scattered around the space, also hiding behind things.

Sehun poked his head up and fired a shot at some guy behind the kitchen, it looked to have caught him as he fell backwards. Dents were in the wall where the opposing guys shot and missed. Where the fuck was Chanyeol?! Sehun thought as he and Jeonho shot off bullets one after the other, some missing and some lodging into the enemies shoulders or legs. Just then, those that were out in the open started dropping with pools of blood pouring out of their heads. Sehun looked on confused as more dropped with no bullets being sent their way. He looked in the direction the hits were coming from to see the open window and his mouth formed an 'O'.

"What's happening?" Jeonho said. "Chanyeol" Sehun said almost proudly and with relief. So that's where he was; the other building he saw, the fact that he said he wouldn't be in anyone's line of sight. A sniper? That's what he had spent time finding? Sehun went back to shooting, ignoring the pain in his arm. Something nagged at him about that discovery but he brushed it off, he had other matters at hand. 

Shots were still coming from all sides, from those who were still around. Jeonho and Sehun was still in a makeshift shoot out in such close quarters. "Sehun, look out!" he suddenly heard his partner shout beside him and turned around just as Jeonho went in front of him, only to fall back into the tall male. The detective looked down to see blood clotting in the side of his shirt. 

Sehun's eyes widen "Jeonho!" he exclaimed, looking up into the hallway to see the black haired guy, his face hard as he held the gun, his finger on the trigger. Sehun dropped to the ground as the bullet lodged into the table. "Fuck" he tried to press Jeonho's side but it hurt to move his injured arm. His partner groaned as he held up his own gun just as multiple, loud shots rung out and the dark haired guy falls to the grown howling, holding his thigh. Sehun looked behind him to see a familiar black hood, moving swiftly about the place, gun cocked up as he pressed the trigger rapidly. 

One or two members ran at the tall male, only for him to dodge their advances; take a hold of their wrist, nudge their elbow up hard with his forearm, earning a loud crack and scream from the perpetrator. They bend over in pain gingerly fingering their disfigured arm just for Chanyeol to press the trigger of his gun, lodging a bullet into their skull. Sehun winced, it was so grotesque. Like Chief said, the kid was good but watching him fight the men, he looked borderline animalistic with how swift and fast he moved, precise and knowing as if he could read their attacks; in a way it was captivating.

Some of the guys ran out the front door, along with Taemin and Max, the girl did too along with the two boys following with glowering looks of fear. All that were left was Sehun and an unconscious Jeonho, the injured black haired guy and Xiumin and Chanyeol who stood among a ring of bodies. He looked unreal the way he stood tall and his face hidden, a gun in his hand and blood stains as dark spots on his black hoodie. Sehun's mind was nagging at him that something wasn't right but all he could focus on was Jeonho's shallow breaths, he needed to get him to a hospital. He stood up and winced when he had to use his bad arm. 

"What do you guys want?" Sehun saw the male, Xiumin, stand up from behind the couch. The tall detective, helped an injured Jeonho out into the open space, now getting a better look at the cruel scene and blood splattered floor. Sehun nodded at Chanyeol who went over to an unresisting Xiumin, "you're under arrest for posession of illegal substances and being associated with OT8" Sehun said. 

"I'm not associated with those idiots" Xiumin said wryly, letting Chanyeol handcuff him. "But you knew Baekhyun and he is also one" Sehun stated to which Xiumin said nothing. "Darn good for nothing kids" the short male spat looking at the slump of bodies. 

Chanyeol pushed Xiumin to the door. "We need to get Jeonho to the hospital" Sehun said as they take the elevator down. The tall detective was still trying to press his partners wound. "Isn't that criminal a surgeon, he could help" Chanyeol said. Sehun frowned as he thought about the things Yixing was capable of "no. That guy is no doctor, I don't want him anywhere near Jeonho".

The young officer chuckled "you people are seriously so one track minded" his head turned to Sehun. "The hospital isn't close by and we don't have time to waste as we have more of these guys to arrest, so it's either him or let your friend bleed out". Sehun winced at the blunt way the hooded male put it. Every time they spoke he seemed more manly and put together than Sehun was, even though he was older and it made his chest burn. 

"Listen to the officer, he knows what he's talking about" Xiumin spoke up. Sehun looked at him, he was very handsome and his eyes were expressive they showed amusement in them. Sehun felt like he was on the other end of a joke when he looked at the two males, one that knew how to shoot well, too well; how to fight and was just over all mysterious and the other that looked as if he new a lot of things, secrets while Sehun just happened to be a small detective who tasked with a job that put him in over his head.

 

As they were driving back Sehun looked out the window at the passing buildings and people, the sun already settled high in the sky at midday. He held Jeonho close, willing him to hold it together. Sehun knew this was only the start, things were only going to get worse; but how much worse? He perks up in that moment all of a sudden as he looks out on to the sidewalk, just as they drive by he sees the familiar empty face of the guy from the cafe incident. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: sorry the chapters have been slow, school has me tied down since the semester is ending. This is the longest chapter I've wrote so far, I hope you enjoyed it. I would really like to interact with you guys, so feel free to leave comments :)


	13. File Unlocked: Phoenix

Phoenix 

November 27th 1992

Assassin

 

 

 _Heat; that's what he felt. Burning; that's what he smelled. The air around him was growing alarmingly hot making his skin prick and burst with sweat. The breaths he took were obscured with the dust of smoke; his eyes flew open and all he saw was bright colours of reds and oranges, his heart was thumping hard but the image soon evaporated, leaving him with the familiar looking world of black and blurry figures._ _He sat up looking around, everything spinning together with no clear shape. Tilting his head up to the black sky he sighed; there seemed to be stars however few it may be but to him they looked like bleeding white spots._

_It's been 3 years. 3 years since that event; since the orphanage burned down and he ran away only to grow up living the life as a street rat. He remembered hearing everything on the news when he would stumble into cafes and shops, trying to casually cover it up and tinker with his luck on the adults to see if anyone was nice enough to spare him some food; they weren't. He was very thin, he could feel it whenever he brushed his hands over his body but the hunger pains have since dulled out to the point where he doesn't know if the movement in his stomach is him in need of food or his organs collapsing. The news would talk about the orphanage, how no one survived and the remains of the kids and house mother were found in the ashes; it would always cause an ache in his head trying to remember and only dreams would occur but only ever in the exact same scenario._

_That was when he was 7._

_Since then 3 birthdays have passed with him just picking through trash cans for something decent and moving from place to place in search of a stable space to stay but ultimately getting run out by owners or the rare nice civilians who let him stay a night when something suddenly goes missing. He felt the wisps of his over grown fluff of matted hair brush against the nape of his neck, the locks felt stiff and unwashed. He got up wobbling still disoriented from the dream, he looked around barely making out the dusty pavement of the sidewalk; he'd been sleeping next to a blob that resembled a bench. People were walking around and he was thankful he couldn't see their faces, he could only imagine the scorn, pity and disgust they held. A strong wind blew and the flimsy shirt that he has been wearing since he stole it and pair of pants from someones backyard after the ones from his younger days had gotten small, lifted up and the cool breeze brushed against his stomach and exposed arms; it was getting colder. The changing of fall to winter was always hard on him but each year he's managed to find a nook or cranny to hunker in._

_Suddenly something bumped into him and he goes falling to the ground, dirt kicking up into his face. "Stupid homeless kid, go die" he heard someone say harshly. He didn't get up right away just tucked his head into the crook of his elbow a sigh leaving his lips, he was getting weaker and didn't know how much longer he could handle this all; that stranger didn't seem so far off._

_He felt another presence from where he lay, his hair enveloping his face and brushing his forearm like a dry, scratchy blanket. He looked up only to of course see nothing but a blurry figure. He saw the smudgy being just standing there with an aura of stubbornness and mockery rolling off of him._   _"Get up" he heard the person say, their voice sounding very young but firm; a kid like him? He does what the stranger says, subconsciously obedient. He feels a small hand slide between his palm and he's surprised, they're touching me? They don't think I have a disease? He squints knowing that wouldn't help focus the world around him. The stranger pulled him along and he could only follow not sure what was happening,_

_"Hungry?" the stranger asked and at the mention of eating his stomach does the familiar gurgling, he nods even though he's not sure about the sudden situation. They were soon entering a well lit place and the light burns his world. He staggers back ripping his hand from the stranger he covers his face, the dream from moments ago burning bright behind his eyes, the heat feeling real against his skin even if he knew there were no flames. "What the hell? What is wrong with you?!" he heard the stranger ask, concern not exactly mixing with their words. His breathing was still shallow as he felt the small hands pry his own from his face._

_"Stop, people are staring. Are you a psycho or something?" the stranger exclaimed, he really didn't know. "Whatever, just calm down. You look like a scared idiot who saw a ghost", maybe he was._

 

_They sat at a table in the far back by the window, he was greedily gobbling up everything in front of him, not sure exactly what was what. They all tasted like heaven and he couldn't get enough. He licked his fingers probably unattractively but he couldn't bring himself to care. He heard a low huff before he felt something soft being ripped from his hands before running against his face. "You do realize you were about to eat a napkin right? What are you, blind? Or just dumb?" the strangers voice wasn't gruff and firm like before but light and low; there was still and inkling of mockery hidden behind his words, though. From what he's gathered they were shorter than him, younger too, probably; while they were walking he felt the brush of hair just below his shoulder._

_He said nothing and the soft paper left his face, he looked across from him. "I'm Kyungsoo but around the neighbourhood people know me as D.O" the stranger offered. He stared, making out the black top of his head and seeing their small frame; everything looked like a bleeding water painting. The way the stranger spoke felt complex to his ears and not kid like at all even though he was using regular everyday words; his tone, the way he said every syllable had him felling kind of unnerved and somewhat ashamed. "What is yours?" he tilted his head at the question "what?" his voice was soft and raw in his ears; he rarely uses it, having no one to speak to but when he does it never sounds like it belongs to him._

_"Your name, idiot. What is your name" the stranger berated him. He hunkers back into the seat his sharp shoulder blades hitting the object, his brow creases as he stares at the table trying to mold images together. "I don't know" he replies finally, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He thinks he sees the male shiver in front of him but he doesn't know why. His name? Did he have one? He couldn't remember._

_A scoff sounds from across the table "how do you not know your own name? Have you lost your memory? Or is it just that bad a name?". He lifts his head and looks around, the bright light making his world even more disorienting. A thought comes to him, how did a kid have money to pay for all this food? "You are a weird guy" the stranger says. There was a beat of silence before the stranger talked again, "what happened to your face? It looks bad". Without warning a shot of pain hits his head and he bends into himself holding his temple tightly._

_"Ah. Are you alright?" he nods quickly the pain soon subsiding, He straightened. "Why are you doing this?" he asked the stranger who sat there "why feed me and talk to me?"._

_The blurry figure shifted, "well, it was kind of my fault you got bombed in to" they say "he couldn't handle a few words of constructive criticism to the cue cards he was reciting. Plus I do not like to leave loose ends; to anybody". He said said nothing, not really understanding as he saw the stranger push up two shoulders. His stomach felt tight from. The eating and it took him a while to realize it was because he was full; it's been so long since he's felt as such and he didn't know when he'd ever get to feel it again, he was thankful to the stranger._

_"What do you look like?" he asked. They didn't say anything for a few seconds, they were silent for a bit; not moving before suddenly something shot up abruptly and waved in front of him; a hand, "are you really blind? Why are you asking that, you were looking at me all the time" the stranger says in a low tone. He shakes his head "No. You're like a messy blur; please tell me, I want to know"._

_"Why?" they ask firmly. He shrugs, "I don't know I just want to. For once I want to see someone else, even if it's just in my head". The sound of a chair scrapes against the floor and the stranger stands up across from him, "There seems to be a lot you do not know about yourself, Mr. Nobody" he comes around to where he sat, and leans down to his level holding something between them. "Take it" The stranger says,_

_"I will not tell you what I look like but if you ever want a name or an identity, come find me. I could make one for you, or" the stranger leaned in closer "steal one" he pulled back and pats his shoulder before turning around and leaving. He watches the door to the cafe close and looked down at the less than readable object harbouring black etches._

 

 

_Winter came with a force and he still had nowhere to go or bundle down in. Snow was seeping into the damaged soles of his stolen beat up shoes. He shivered in the thin shirt and thin pants, his hands blurring blue in the haze of his world. He never did seek out the stranger, mostly because what was written wasn't visible and the other being because he didn't want an identity, he didn't feel like he deserved to be any one. He was him even though he didn't know who he was. A cold drop interrupts his naked arm and he looks up, white dots fell. The night enhanced their arrival like they were royalty but to him they were the promise of death. His knees shook making him wobble even more. His teeth chattered with noisily as he swiveled around a corner, looking into a white covered alley way. He walked further in before his knees finally buckled and gave out near a dumpster, he groaned at his violently shivering bones; leaning against the dumpster he curled in on himself, sitting on a pile of dirty snow. Was this it for him? He hugged himself. As time passed his eyes grew heavy and he leaned his head against the dumpster._

_He suddenly heard grunting noises and his eyes lazily look forward only now noticing another conjoined alleyway. He squinted, the falling snow making the blurry haze even more obstructed. He could only make out flashes of colour coming toward him, he didn't have the strength to be scared or alert; he kept still, shivering going unnoticed as his eyes grew more heavy. Will he ever meet his parents? He thinks out of nowhere, Wherever they had gone would he ever get to see them and ask why they threw him away? Were they living? Was he? Or has he already been gone since 3 years ago walking around with nowhere to go, or anyone to go back to._

_More grunts and noise sounded, like metal against metal. His eyes were still trained forward as snow piled around him and the cold bit harshly at everything inch of his body. The colours were moving fast back and forth; turning around as if dancing. Just then a burst of bright red against the white painted his blurry world; lots of red, it looked wrong and didn't fit. He felt his chest rise and fall shallowly as one of the blurry dark colours fall into the red and white, the remaining dark blur stood still. They then turn coming closer and closer towards him as his arms no longer had strength to circle around him. They slumped to his side, awkwardly. He lifted his head slowly as the tall dark blur stood in front of him; he was tall._

_"Did, you see all that, kid?" there voice was gruff and muffled. He shook his head slowly, "not very well" he puffed out "a lot of red, too much red" he shakes his head more; mind delirious and wavering. He was dying, he felt it; he didn't want it. "Who are you? Why are you painting my world red?"_

_The dark blur stood still and firm. "I'm nobody" the stranger said low and smooth._

_He let a cold, cracked smile come to his lips as his breath wavered, "just like me"._


	14. File Unlocked: Xiumin

Xiumin 

March 26 1990

Dealer

 

_The knock on the door was loud and urgent as Xiumin picked it up over the noise of his vacuum. He was in the middle of his spring cleaning, which to be honest is every weekend or if he tried really hard through the exhaustion of work and his daily life; everyday. He pressed the button on the handle of his favourite item and leant it up against the couch and went over to the white rectangular door of his apartment._

_The knocks continue. "I'm coming!" he shouts "don't break my door down." He twists the steel handle and opens the door a fraction to see who was abusing the poor wood and his eyes grow wide. "Luhan!?" he exclaims as he takes in the males state; bruised face and ripped clothing, he was holding a bundle in his arms and he looked from side to side nervously before he clambers under Xiumin's arm and into the small space._

_"Luhan, what the hell happened? Why are you hurt?" Xiumin follows his friend from college to his small living room. His friend says nothing as he sets the bundle on to the table and Xiumin looks at it closer; it was a bag. "Luhan?" he tries again feeling a bit anxious under the males silence and shocking appearance._

_Finally he speaks "Xiu, I need a favor" he turns to the short male who was only a year younger. Xiumin's eyebrow quirks up "what is it? And will you please tell me why you look like you've been mugged?" he asks._

_Luhan shakes his head so frantically Xiumin thinks he might get bad whiplash. "I can't, I don't want you to get involved Xiu but I really need your help" Xiumin walks over to where his friend is visably shaking and despite himself not being big on physical affection; wraps his arms around him feeling more than concerned for his friend. What happened and why can't he tell him? Who did this to him, what's with the bag? All these questions plague his mind at once._

_"What is it Luhan?" he urges for his friend to stop nervously looking around and talk to him. He hasn't seen the male in over a year and Xiumin had chalked it up to him going about his life and getting it together but looking at him now really has him questioning his friends activities._

_"I need you to bring this to somebody" Luhan gestures to the bag and Xiumin's eyes flit to it. "What is that, bring it to who?" Luhan picks up the bag and thrusts it towards Xiumin, " I can't stay here for long, they'll track this place down" he shakes his head "that bag is full of drugs, of all kinds and I'm supposed to bring it to a man for some supplies but everything has gone wrong and now our group is being tracked down, some of my partners have been taken and I-" he stops abruptly to take a deep breath and Xiumin just stares at him with wide, confused eyes._

_"Luhan, you do drugs what the hell!?" Xiumin was in disbelief, when did his friend get into that lifestyle? He holds the bag out to Luhan's shaking his head "no, I can't Luhan. I want nothing to do with that scene, I don't know what you've gotten yourself into but I don't want any part in it" when Luhan looks at him fully Xiumin is taken aback by the pleading, desperate look in his eyes and his hand lowers._

_"Please Xiu. I have no one else to ask, we are all in hiding, running around the city in hopes of not getting caught. Something bad is happening Xiumin, something bad is coming to the city and those that live down in the slumps are disappearing, mostly those who are in head positions and are known around the dark scene. Some are saying they've seen men in black taking some in the night" Luhan speaks rapidly. "No one knows who you are Xiu, if you do this for me my men won't be on the hit list of two enemies, one being a total mystery. There's an apartment downtown we stay in, some of them are waiting for me but I can't go back there in fear of someone taking me in the night or coming for any of them. I don't want to leave all of them with no leader so I want you to go there and tell them I sent you, tell them that you'll deliver the bag, please Xiu" Luhan practically begs, something the older male has never done in all the time Xiumin has known him._

_Xiumin didn't know what to say, his mind was blank as Luhan gave him all that information, what the hell was he supposed to do? He wanted no part in this but at the same time his friend looked so torn and scared, they've always had each others backs since college, he couldn't just disappoint him. And if all this was true and someone was after him, shouldn't he do everything he could to keep his friend out of trouble? Even if he chose a life of scandal? Xiumin looks down at the bag in his hands, fairly heavy; drugs? He's never come into contact with them, ever and suddenly going downtown where this activity practically is worshipped to assure a bunch of mislead kids that they won't be left to fend for themselves makes him feel sick. Is this really what his life has lead up to? This once peaceful Saturday morning of him just cleaning his home, turning into a botched drug run request from his friend who just showed up on his doorstep from a years hiatus in his life?_

_Xiumin sighs. "Okay" he says uncomfortably and uncertain. He is met with tight arms gripping him and his face is shoved into the chest of the older, "thank you so much, Xiu. I owe you"._

_Luhan pats him on his arms before giving him the address of the apartment. He walks to the front door before turning around "I'll see you, Xiu" he bids farewell before slipping out of Xiumin's apartment; leaving the boy feeling all sorts of conflicted feelings but one towered over the rest, fear._

 

_Xiumin never did see Luhan after that. He did as his friend wanted and went to the apartment he was addressed to find a handful of people sitting inside. As he walked through the doors they all lifted their weapons on him but lowered them instantly as Xiumin held up the bag and told them Luhan sent him and what thebokder had told him and why he wasn't coming back. Most were visably upset at the news and Xiumin felt a bit bad._

_They soon filled Xiumin in on the ropes after they absorbed what the make said and introduced theirselves. Xiumin had thought they were a fairly nice crew for a bunch of drug heads. They delivered the bag the same night to this brute male that was housed in an abandoned garage with his own set of partners, the trade had gone less than smoothly as the brute male intended to kill them all despite getting his bag of drugs. Xiumin was scared to death as he hunched behind a tool cabinet as the others shot and fought, he stared in horror. What had Luhan been doing? Why are these kids not at home bothering their parents but killing instead? Everything was so overwhelming._

_Xiumin had planned to just do that one deed and leave and after that whole debacle where he saw people drop dead on the ground, their red blood just flowing out, his vow was stronger. But as he looked at the group who watched him puzzled and lost as he stated his leave he felt a pang in his chest. He really hated kids or anyone younger than him, they always felt entitled and like they were right about everything even though they didn't really know jack but somehow this bunch, after seeing some of them fall lifeless on a shabby garage floor left pity in his chest. Luhan what the fuck were you doing with these kids? His hand dropped from the doorknob of the apartment door._

_Soon Xiumin was caught up in the lifestyle, and he became a sort of new leader for the group. They went on runs, sold drugs that they had or bought them off of others although sometimes those trades didn't go smoothly and Xiumin unfortunately saw more people fall lifeless as he continued in the line of work. Xiumin started to take drugs on his own and loved it surprisingly, the far away feeling you get as you exit reality; where he could pretend he wasn't becoming less and less sympathetic with each dead body he happened to come upon. Eventually he got himself a gun and asked one of his partners to teach him to use it, he started entering the fights they got caught up in getting more and more skilled as time passed, soon the lifestyle Xiumin was now in consumed him wholly and the him he used be before this was a distant dream._

_But then came the day he really turned into a monster._

_It was noon when he was counting their bags of money and looking over the packs of substances only to frown. "Max" he called and soon the tall good looking male Xiumin has slept with on occasion came bounding over. "What?" he asks, face flat._

_"Why are we down a few thousand bucks? And some of the red Zarins are missing. We have to sell those tonight" Xiumin looks at their stuff then back at the male who only quirked an eyebrow and fuck Xiumin loved that._

_"I don't know, I didn't touch anything. Taemin and I counted and checked the inventory before stashing them away" he shrugged. Xiumin frowned, "then why are there things missing?"._

_"Why don't you ask everyone?" Max offered coming behind Xiumin to wrap his arms around the shorter, running his hands dangerously low over Xiumin's belt, "but can you do it later? Because you look absolutely hot when you're confused and mad" he says into his ear. Xiumin smiles devilishly but moves from his hold to turn to him. "If someone is stealing from the group, I want to know, Max. And you distracting me isn't helping your case" the shorter says evenly and Max looked at him a while before a soft smirk climbs to his lips and he scoffs lazily._

_Xiumin calls everyone out and lines them up, he briefs them on the situation with a firm look and voice, most deny everything pretty quickly; some nervous and rightfully so bad he was about to end it and send everyone back to work but as Xiumin's eyes land on Onew, a short male who looks innocent and like he should be sitting around a desk reading novels and studying darts his eyes to Xiumin and then quickly around the room. Xiumin could practically hear his heartbeat from where he stood and see sweat glisten over his forehead, Xiumin frowns and walks over._

_"Onew? Are you okay buddy? You look tense, it's just a drilling so I can know no one stole from us" Xiumin cocks his head to the side, willing the male to look at him; he does. Xiumin's voice sounds eerily calm as he addresses the male, the shorter didn't know when he obtained such a persona but he wore it like it was a second skin, the whole leader who never yelled or shouted; who was laid back but was obviously in charge with an iron grip._

_"I know, and I said I didn't do it" Onew states, his hands in fists at his sides and Xiumin just stares at him, narrowing his eyes slowly._

_"I know. You're not that kind of guy Onew, that'll just betray your partners like that. I know we found you worse for wear on a run but nothing is impossible when money is involved for ones own benefit" Xiumin accuses smoothly, stepping closer to a now trembling male seeing if he would take the bait. He does._

_"It wasn't for my benefit, it was for u-" he didn't get to finish because Xiumin unclips his gun and pulls the trigger, no hesitation. Months ago shooting someone would not have even crossed his mind but he wasn't the same person, he's known that for a while now. His partners have been telling him but he's been paying no attention, he was consumed. Anger bubbles in his throat as he stares at the frozen shocked look on the small males face who thought he could get away with his ordeals, bullet lodged neatly in his forehead. Blood was spilling on the floor and that made Xiumin more angry; he had just cleaned up._

_And so he pulled the trigger again, a bullet into the males chest. His body jerks a little bit, "don't" shot "ever" another shot "steal" and another "from me" one more. He drops his hand and looks at the obviously dead male on the ground with multiple bullet holes and then back at the others who haven't moved, their faces were masked but Xiumin could see some of their shock seep through._

_This wasn't the old Xiumin, he thinks the old Xiumin was chucked out the window as soon as he accepted Luhan's request._


	15. Episode 8: Assembled

Suho stares out the big window of his office, he had a great view of the destruction of the building next to his corporation. Reduced to nothing but rubble, it could've easily been his and somehow he felt that he was also a passive target, but why? That's what he asks himself. His eyes skirt upwards to the horizon, looking out to see the bright green forests that cut off Ilcan from the other cities, some taking hours to get to, others maybe days if you didn't take the scheduled train rides that carry you out of the city. 

Something was nagging at him but he couldn't put his finger on it. He's also gotten word that most of the criminals the police were after, being a part of OT8, were captured thanks to Pheonix who insisted on keeping in touch despite not taking any jobs for the time being. Suho turns away from the window and goes back to sitting in his chair leaning back as much as it allowed, his eyebrows were furrowed together. At some point he was going to be tracked down even if he made sure no soul knew he was involved in the criminal scene. 

A knock interrupts his turmoil and he casts his glare to his assistant. "Seulgi what do you want? I told all of you that I don't want to be disturbed" he huffed. She walks over to his desk with a small smile on his lips, as usual she was wearing an outfit that was just nearly crossing the line from office wear to a cheap slutty Halloween costume. 

"Sir, a letter has been delivered for you. We told him to leave it at the head desk but he insisted it be delivered personally". Suho raises his eyebrows. "Who was he?" he asks reaching out to grab the envelope Seulgi was holding out to him. The woman shrugs, "they said it was some dude in a black hood".

The CEO stops just short of opening the sealed paper and stares at it, black hood? Pheonix? It can't be, the obnoxious kid would've already made himself known by appearing in his office in that stealthy way he does. Suho proceeds to rip open the top of the envelope and takes out the paper inside. 

_This is your fault. I will be your destruction._

That's it, that was all that was on the piece of paper. Suho frowns deeply as he reads the word, who? Who sent this? He swivels around his chair and goes back to the window to look outside at the rubble beside his building. Police tape was around everything and construction workers were already cleaning it up to probably rebuild the whole thing. Could this be from the people who did that? He was in his office that night and when the first blast went off he was nothing but questioning as he watched from the same window in silent dismissal. He brings the paper up to read it again and this time his eyes scan the length of the paper until it catches something at the bottom. In that moment his face hardens into a deep and hateful scowl, his fists tighten around the paper; crinkling it. Suho's eyes darted across the floor as his brain ran through things quickly, He turns to Seulgi who was not the least bit ashamed at being caught ogling his ass. When Seulgi looked up and noticed the look he sported her eyes widened in fear and thrill at the same time, his eyes locked on to hers. "Take me to the police". 

 

 

Pheonix drops the male on the gurney that the handful of policeman by the front door of the department brought for him. He watches as they wheel the unconscious detective away and down a hall. Xiumin follows the hooded male as he takes them to the office area, where the holding cell of criminals rested. As Pheonix pushed through the doors he saw the same bulk of desk rats typing away at their computers, he pushes Xiumin to the holding cell and unlocks it with the key on his belt. Xiumin walks idly inside undeterred and leans against the bars near the door.

Pheonix looks at Lay who was now up and about, mostly all of them were, probably feeling anxious and trapped now. The hooded male smirked, they were about to feel even more trapped than ever. "Lay, we need you" he voiced to the doctor, they all look his way and then at the new addition to which they seemed to gloss over. 

"Why?" the male says with uneven but hard eyes. "We have a medical emergency and they need your expertise" Pheonix said with a smile, he flits his eyes too look at Baekhyun who stood with his arms crossed, eyes narrowing at the tall male. Lay looks at him steadily before coming over just as a hand clamps down on Pheonix's shoulder; at the contact the tall males amused smile drops and his face turns dark under his hood, his eyes dart to the side as he grips the hand that touched him and reached further back with his other hand to grip their forearm like a vice. He used his bodies height and strength to pull forward, hard; bending as he uses his hip and the momentum to lift the person up and over his shoulder watching as they fall forward to the ground in front of him on their back with a hard thud. He twists their arm just as they cry out, his vision red. 

"Stop, fuck. Let go it's just me!" Pheonix snaps out of it and as his vision steadies again from the brief adrenaline he sees the Chief on the floor, his face contorted in pain. Pheonix let's go swiftly, backing up, "shit, sorry Chief. I didn't know it was you, it's a habit". 

Pheonix looks up at the other criminals and they looked amused at what just took place. The Chief slumped to his feet, rubbing at his arm. "We are in the department Chanyeol, there's no need for self defense" Chief looked at him questioningly. "You almost gave me a heart attack and broke my arm. I think my back is bruised now".

"Sorry, but Lay is needed. Jeonho is hurt" at the sound of that Chiefs attention snaps fully to the taller, forgetting his bruised arm. "What happened to Jeonho?" He asked urgently.

"He got shot, when things went a bit wrong acquiring the next target of Ot8" Pheonix gestured to Xiumin who looked bored at everything. "We didn't have time to go all the way to the hospital and we figured since we have Lay, a doctor, we'd bring him back here. The officers by the front door had wheeled him somewhere" the tall male informs. 

Chief looks at Lay and then gestures for him to come out the cell. He does. Pheonix locks the barred door trapping the others again. The head motioned for some of the lingering officers in the broom, either filing in information or calling for a warrant. "Take him to Jeonho, let him fix him up but stay with him at all times. Gather a couple other officers to help out. They would've carried Jeonho to forensics room so head down there".

They watched as the officers escorted Lay out of the room. "Well that was entertaining" Kai says from where he sat with one leg draped over the other, looking as hot as ever. "But can I ask why exactly you have us held up in here? Why not just chuck us all in prison and be done with us if you lot feel so threatened".

"Back stabbing prick has a point" Baekhyun spoke up coming over to stand by the bars. He was right near Pheonix and the taller reached out to run a thumb down the line of his jawline. Baekhyun jerked back at the touch and looked at him incredulously, "what the hell, man?" he exclaims. Pheonix licks his lips, in all his life he's never been hung over a guy like this, not even a girl but somehow Baekhyun just stirs something in him. "You're cute" he says simply, not one for many sentiments but wanting to express one. 

"You're a right quack, dude. Don't touch me" the shorter scorns and scoots away. Pheonix chuckles, he'll come around; they always do. 

"Well for one" the Chief goes on as if the scene didn't happen "Jeonho and Sehun have a deal with two of you and as the head of the department I haven't quite agreed that you guys are behind these attacks" he states. Pheonix's attention moves from the cute criminal to his boss, eyes narrowing slightly. 

"What do you mean?" Pheonix questions, arms folding over his chest. Chief looks at the hand the hooded male had abused, "I feel like there's something deeper going on and mostly all of you are locked up so it doesn't seem plausible".

Pheonix hums unamused. "Most but not all, what makes you so sure those that are left aren't still organizing?" he questions the Chief innocently. 

"It's the way things are being handled, the way these things are being executed; So secretly that they just pop up randomly. They take the city by surprise as if those behind it want to cause chaos; a ruckus, but I have no idea for what purpose" Chief says his eyes trailed to the door in thought. "When you guys were running a muck, you left nothing to the imagination, everything was out in the open and straightforward" the older man shakes his head and looks at the four criminals behind bars, "I haven't told anyone this, but I think I need you guys for something". 

All of their eyes and ears perk up at the Chiefs words. "For what?" Chen pipes up. "Something that won't sit well with a few". The head then turns to Pheonix "speaking of which, where is detective Oh? He didn't come back with you?". Pheonix pushes off the barred door, already in the need for some fresh air and to stretch his legs. "I don't know, he hopped out of the car suddenly before telling me to hurry and take Jeonho back here, he told me not to ask questions so I didn't and just drove off" he informs the Chief. 

He takes steps towards the door and before he can fully open it, someone bounds in abruptly making Pheonix having to scoot aside. When his eyes land on the familiar CEO, he didn't react but his eyebrow quirked in question. The small but stern male stalked to the middle of the room, where a surprised Chief stood. 

"Release those criminals, now" his voice hard and demanding as he pointed to the cell. Pheonix stood behind them near the door and a small smile comes to his lips, this will be interesting. 

 

 

"Go, go!" the lanky male said as they run sneakily through the slumps of the city. Cans of gasoline filled their hands along with bundles of matches in their pockets. It was only a group of them but it was enough to scale out the buildngs in the area. They split up as they enter the lobby off each and spill oil all of over, the lanky male shook the can over a unoccupied lobby that just hosted half-assed decor and three built in elevators and a stairwell to the right. 

"We have to hurry, boss told us not to take too long. We have to get back to post" the lanky males partner says as he retrieves a match from his pocket. "Yeah, I'm done, light it". And so the other does and they run out the building as the fire catches and grows uncontrollably, whoever are in the apartments will realise too late as the group that was sent out before them had disabled all the alarm systems. 

 

 

Sehun creeps up the steps. He had been following the male he had recognized on the street, he was right; it was the male from the cafe. He had seen him enter this building and Sehun has been trying to be as discreet as possible, he breaks through a graffit'd covered door into a hall full of apartment doors. The male had taken the elevators but not to raise suspicion Sehun had stayed in the lobby watching to see which floor he stopped off at, before going to the stairwell. 

He walks quietly down the hall, thanking whoever that they were carpeted. His hand was gently resting by his hip and on top of the gun he carried around. The detective didn't know what door the criminal went into and he didn't really have a plan to figure it out. "Fuck. What do I do know?" he whispers to himself. 

Sehun slowly keeps walking down the hall when a noise sounds out into the silent hall. His hands quickly unclips the gun and he brings it up, going towards the noise. He gets halfway when he notices one of the doors ajar; quickly but quietly he jogs up to it his gun still hoisted in case the need for a quick trigger. Sehun reaches out one hand and pushes the door open a little more before walking in. At first glance it was a fairly sparce space, dirty white walls, chipped flooring with a raggedy carpet; a small kitchen to his right and the living room on full display. Sehun looks left down the short hall that held two doors then right back at the kitchen, he steps forward but his foot suddenly snags on something and he goes falling to the floor and his gun slips from his hands skidding forward into the open living space. What the hell?

Sehun winces and pushes himself up into a keeling position, passively registering the sound of clicks and clatters. He looks behind him to see what it was that trapped him but all he saw was the open door looking into the hall and nothing on the ground. Then what the hell tripped him? Suddenly a sharp slicing sound in the air captures his attention and Sehun looks up above him to see something black and round overhead that was now falling and Sehun panics, scrambling out of the way half crawling and half rolling. A loud 'clunk' resonated through the apartment as the black round object crashes on to the floor leaving a visible dent. Sehun's heart was thumping quickly and his breathing was irregular as he inspects the object, it was a bowling ball.

The detective looks up from where the heavy object came from to see a series of connecting contraptions as if chain linked to set each other off with the end result obviously being the ball drop. "Crazy" he mumbled, his fall must've triggered it somehow. Sehun shakes his head and tries not to think about how his head was seconds away from being crushed. He goes to get up when he feels something lock around his throat, his breath catches and his heart rate picks up again. Sehun casts his eyes downward to catch sight of a forearm and then something hard presses against his head, it didn't take long for him to guess what it was; he knew. His gun. 

"Why are you following me?" comes a voice from behind him, deep and smooth. Sehun tries to turn but the males arms locks on tighter and Sehun chokes a little. "Do not move, answer me or I will blow your brains like the bowling ball was supposed to do". 

Sehun tired to swallow around the lump in his throat but it was just uncomfortable with someone cutting off his airway. "You're the guy, from the cafe incident" the detective chokes out, "you killed the manager".

"So? What is it to you Mr. Detective. Are you here to arrest me? Because it seems like you are in no position to be playing cop" the male says near his ear emphasizing his words by pushing the barrel of the gun harder against his temple. 

Sehun feels the arm detached from around his neck "Stand up, now" the smooth voiced male demands and Sehun obliged being in no position to deny. He gets to his feet rubbing his neck, for someone so short the male was strong. The detective turns around and as he comes face to face with the male his eyes widen, he looks completely different with his hair in a neat buzz cut; the gun still trailed on Sehun. 

"Leave" the shorter male says sternly, a deep frown on his face making him look very intimidating. Sehun looks behind him and notices a picture frame sitting idly by the wall. It was a picture of a middle aged man and some woman, Sehun brings his eyes back to the glaring male. " I said leave" and Sehun sees his finger press more into the trigger. His heart was pumping uncontrollably fast, he didn't plan for this to go this way. 

"This isn't your home" Sehun says and the male frowns more if possible. "Of course not, I would never willingly live in a dump like this" he scoffs. 

"Then where is the man who lives here?" Sehun inclines his chin behind the male and he turns slightly to look, cursing as he sees the picture. "He's dead" he says matter-of-factly and Sehun looks into his cold gaze knowing full well that the male standing in front of him had a hand in that death, if the trap by the door was any indication he was a very smart criminal.

"You killed him" Sehun stated and the male laughs darkly, "way to go detective, took you long enough. I did, I slit that old man's throat and shoved him down the waste shoot" a smirk played on his lips and Sehun shivered at the sheer darkness of it; what had he gotten himself into. Sehun could see some more of the living room from where he stood and as he looked to the left a small table with a lone chair beside it was covered in papers and cards. But he saw something that resembled a wallet that was opened and harboured what looked like an ID. There was also money stashed on the table neatly as if it was being counted before hand. Fraud, is the first thing that comes to Sehun's mind.

"At first I was only going to take you into custody for the murder but I can also see you're involed in something more. From what I read form your file; fraud, framing, you're one of them, OT8. I need to arrest you" Sehun says upon realization. The shorter male laughs "those imbeciles? Me? All this policing must be getting to your head".

Sehun knew he was going to shoot but still barely manages to dodge the bullet as he slams himself into the wall. The criminal points the gun at him again and this time Sehun was ready to dodge by moving to the side as the bullet lodged into the wall and then throwing himself at the male. They both go falling to the ground, Sehun on top. The male tries to struggle from under the detective but Sehun outweighed him, he used it to his advantage and grabbed a hold of the hand the smaller held the gun in; trying to wrestle it from him but he just thrashed beneath the taller.

"Get the fuck off!" he shouts and throws a punch at Sehun's jaw, he grunted at the impact of a strong fist and falls off to the side. The male took the chance and got to his feet before Sehun could regain his composure and points the gun in his direction. 

But just then a loud crash sounds and the suffocating smell of smoke drifts the room. Sehun looks over at the open door and sees a grey cloud wafting in and the floor under him felt oddly hot. "What the hell?" he hears the male say. Sehun looks up at him but he was no longer paying attention to the detective and the gun was lowered. Sehun wasted no time, he knocked the object out of the shorter males hand, stunning him, before taking it and pointing it to which the male just stared hard at him. 

Sehun moves behind him and takes the cuffs he had on him from his waist and locks them firmly around the shorters wrists. He looks up just as the windows suddenly shatter and glass sprays everywhere. "Fuck!" Sehun says as he feels stray glass cut his face, he moves his arms to block the rest; after he lowers his arms is when he sees the fire. Sehun's eyes widen at the flames catching the walls and the flimsy curtains. The male stays standing in front of him and Sehun grabs him, heading to the open door that was letting in thick clouds of smoke. 

The hallway was worse, a part of the ceiling had collapsed and it trapped the males where they stood. The flames were getting bigger and bigger and the smoke thicker as it caught on anything it could, which was a lot. Now Sehun wasn't so thrilled about the carpeted floors. "How are we going to get out?" the detective mumbles to himself, looking back into the room to see the fire quickly consuming most of the living room. Sehun's mind was reeling, he couldn't think. He was hearing screaming as well and he realized there were people who also lived in the building, even if they looked abandoned people still called it home and Sehun looks on in horror as most of the doors were engulfed in flames. He wanted to help them but he knew he could do nothing, if he opened those doors he'd be blasted with heat. 

"You are useless. Follow me" Sehun snaps out of his shocked state to see the handcuffed male by pass him and go in the opposite direction. Sehun obliges and follows, the male shoulders through a door that Sehun noticed is another stairwell and starts climbing upwards. 

Sehun was wondering why they were going up and not down but he couldn't ask as the smoke was becoming overbearing and he had to cover his mouth and nose. They climbed up three flights before coming to a platform with a lone door, the small male pushes it open with his shoulder and suddenly Sehun was looking out onto the roof. It was a wide space with a big metal box encasing that housed the ventilation system. He continues to follow the criminal to the edge of the building and Sehun hands begin to sweat. 

"What are we doing u-" but his words get caught in his throat because as he looks up from where he stood he saw that the building beside them was also being consumed by flames and when he looked around, Sehun realized that almost every building was engulfed in flames. What the hell is going on? How did all these building catch fire? The heat was making sweat prick against his skin even if he was outside, below on the streets he saw handfulls of people running around and some standing around watching with unreadable faces.

"Uncuff me" he hears the male say and looks at him, his stern face held no room for arguments but Sehun wasn't having it. "No, you're a criminal in a suspected act".

"Shut up and do it, unless you want to burn with this building" he answers with a frown "we do not have time before the bars get too hot, hurry up. Fuck your policing shit", he thrusts his wrists out to Sehun silently demanding he do it and Sehun sighs heavily before shoving his hand into his pocket and retrieving the key. As soon as the cuffs fall off the shorter male turns and hops over the buildings edge, 'What?!" Sehun exclaims running to look over. 

The criminal was there clinging to one of the long pipes that ran up the building like the one him and Jeonho had used to get into the dealers apartment. The male looked up, big eyes judging him "you can stay here if you want, matter-of-fact, I would prefer it so I could be off the hook".

The shorter starts climbing down and Sehun frowns. This guy was very different from the others, he seemed very stuck up and too smart for his own good. Sehun grabs the cuffs and does the same as the male, feeling the object getting warmer and warmer. Luckily he gets to the ground before his hands start to burn but he can feel the cuts on his face from the glass earlier. To Sehun's surprise instead of trying to run like he had thought, the short male holds his wrist out. 

"Just do it, there is no point in me running. You outweigh me and I only fight battles that I know I can win" he says. Sehun doesn't hesitate and binds him up again. The the taller looks around in concern and worry, families were trapped in there. "We have to help them, they're trapped" Sehun voiced, as the buildings smoke and flame, screams muffled but prominent. 

"They're dead" the male says beside him with a voice of stone and no emotion, once again Sehun shivers. "Who and why?" Sehun asked to no one in particular. 

"The same people who set off the bomb and did the lynching of course" the shorter male said. Sehun looks over at him, did he know?

"No, I do not know who did it" he answers as if reading the detectives mind and Sehun sighs, frowning. "But it is positively not the eight males you are gathering, I saw a bunch of men in black running around earlier if I had any say; I would place my bets on them".

Men in black? A bunch of them? Just then Sehun's phone rings and he jumps, feeling skittish from the events. The buildings were charring and the screams from before have gone silent leaving a dry feeling in the detective and an eerie quietness. The sound of far away sirens float through the street and people were chatting quietly as if raising their voices would make things worse. Some were sitting on the sidewalk crying as Sehun and the criminal walked onto the sidewalk away from the disaster, from the soot and charred clothing of some individuals Sehun could feel a tiny relief that some had escaped.

"Hello?" he answers. 

"Sehun, come back now! The CEO of Kim Enterprises is here demanding we release the criminals" he hears Chief exclaim urgently before the line goes dead. Sehun removes the device from his ear and knots his eyebrows together, staring at the screen. 

He grabs the locked wrists of the criminal, looking at the burning buildings another brief moment, the sirens of firetrucks blaring loudly as the big red machines roll into view. "Let's go".

 

 

When they get back, Sehun can hear two people yelling and he recognises it as the Chief and Leeteuk. He pushes through the door bringing the short male with him. The scene before him was not something Sehun saw everyday; Chief and a few officers were holding an angry Leeteuk back as the CEO of Kim Enterprises stood a few feet away arms crossed looking undisturbed with a woman practically hanging off his arm.

"What's going on?" Sehun questioned. The criminals were all standing by the bars watching the interaction play out. Sehun saw Chanyeol standing far off enough but just slightly behind the CEO, he looked as mysterious as ever with that black hood.

"Sehun" the Chief gasped "what happened to your face?" the detective shook his head "long story, I'll tell you after. What's happening here?" he asks.

The Chief sighs still trying to hold Leeteuk back "CEO Kim is demanding we release the criminals. We can't under code and regulations but he won't hear the end of it, This is your case; speak to him" Chief says. Sehun looks at the man in charge of over a million companies, who was the face of business and who all entrepreneurs looked up to. The man turned to face him and Sehun backed up a little, intimidated. The man exuded authority and power; his looks were impeccable as he stood there staring with strong eyes. 

"Let them out now, I need them" he said, the tone inquiring no arguments.

Sehun gave him a confused look. "What do you mean, you need them? What does a CEO like you need with a bunch of criminals?".

The man sighed and the woman moved from his arm to go behind him, massaging his shoulders. She lowered her head to whisper something in his ear but his eyes were still locked on Sehun and despite being in a room of ruthless criminals and police officials somehow this male seemed to hold heads over all of them. 

"Get off" he said to the woman who instantly backs away and he goes over to one of the many desks and sits against it. "I was trying to keep this a secret as it wasn't something I wanted people to know I associated with, I am the face of the business world after all. But something has come up and it looks like I have no choice".

Everyone watches him with curiosity, even the criminals. "I'm one of OT8" the CEO spills. You can hear everyone suck in their breaths, a pin could drop and you would also hear it; even the desk workers have stopped typing Sehun noticed. "What? You? You're lying" the detective accuses. 

The CEO looks at him again and Sehun clamps his lips shut. There's something about the maLe that makes you obey his demands, silent or otherwise. "I'm afraid I'm not lying" He says, "I own the casino club for criminals downtown. The one you people constantly wreck" the CEO says "but the reason I came here for this lot is because I got a letter from someone and I needed a group of people who know what they're doing to help get rid of him. I had someone look into them and they fit the bill".

Chief steps forward suddenly, "I was going to propose the same thing" he says. Sehun looks at him as if he had two heads "Chief?".

The head of department turns to the criminals in the cell and then back to the CEO. "I've been thinking about it a lot, we need to find the person doing all these stunts, things are out of whack and it seems to be getting worse. I wanted to propose that you guys team up with us in trying to find this guy. He's terrorizing the city and they need to be stopped".

Sehun think he heard wrong but looking at the Chiefs serious face, he wasn't mistaken. "Chief are you crazy?" both him and Leeteuk say at the same time, the first the detective accepted the officers apprehension.

Suho looked at the Chief carefully, studying him. The male didn't think this would be so hard, he was willing to pay bail for all the criminals even if they were convicted on reasonable grounds and by sitting here confessing his part in criminal activity he was basically offering himself up for arrest. Suho was hoping the name he read in the letter was a fluke, that things weren't really playing out like this but even he knew this was as real as anything. The Chief was right, things were out of whack; starting with the fact that the 8 criminals these officials have been trying to capture for years were now all sitting pretty in a police office. Suho silently glances at Pheonix in his officer uniform and his eyebrow raised slightly, what was he doing here? Is this where he's been? Playing cop? For what?

"I didn't come here to join your petty party to try and find a terrorist" Suho said steadily. His gaze flits back to the head, "I have other things to worry about, so could you let these guys go with me and we can call it a day. Time can't be wasted".

"Yes exactly" the Chief agrees. Sehun still couldn't believe what was going on, they were sitting in a police department talking to the CEO of Kim Enterprises who just announced that he was a stone cold criminal. "We have no time to waste with the city sitting on destruction. Quite frankly we as a department are getting pretty desperate and since we both need each other" the Chief points at CEO then back at him "we should work together".

Everyone was silent, listening to the conversation. Obviously Sehun wasn't the only one beyond confused at the Chiefs outburst; the detective saw the drawn faces of the criminals and frowning officers. "Chief, this is not a good idea. As soon as we let them free they'll just run and then what?" Sehun voiced. 

"Detective Oh, these criminals are under wraps and inputted into the jail system so they are no longer free and plus we will have the whole officiating unit on the case. Enough trained eyes to watch them if they try anything" the older male looks around at everybody clearly already determined by his situation and being the head of the department, knew none of them had the right to argue.

"I do not know how I feel about being used as a pawn by the police, I rather be locked up" Sehun turned to the short big eyed male who was standing in the same spot, hands clasped behind him. 

"Yeah, owl boy over there has a point. There is nothing in this for us, there's no point in us agreeing to this mess" Xiumin spoke up. "If Ilcan is destroyed we can all just migrate to a different city". Sehun didn't know what to think, everything was moving too fast for him but what he did know was that he didn't want this city to be destroyed. He moved here for a reason, to escape and this place gave him a purpose so he had a strong urge to protect it.

"This guy is a criminal" Sehun spoke up and all eyes go to him "what if after he destroys this city he goes to the next one over, we would all have to succumb to it at some point and I know for a fact none of us wants to die yet. I just came back from downtown and the whole place was set up in flames, people trapped and burning alive and I could do nothing" Sehun's voice turned hard as he addresses the room who were surprised at what he was saying. 

"What!?" he heard Xiumin, Baekhyun and Chen exclaim. They were now gripping onto the bars looking at him with stone gazes. Sehun pointed to the big eyed male, "if it wasn't for him, we'd probably be up in flames by now. It was so abrupt and out of the blue, something that guy would do. Most of you lived there and now you have nowhere to go, are you still going to say you want nothing to do with this?" Sehun informed them. "Again, this guy is a criminal and what better way to beat one other than teaming up with people who think exactly like him?" Sehun felt all eyes on him but for some reason his eyes landed on Chanyeol standing in the same spot, not moving or reacting. His arms were crossed and his height was enhanced in the small room, he looked as if he was looming over them all just watching; something about it was nerve-racking. 

"Let's do it" the sudden voice made Sehun turn and his eyes widened at the the sight of his partner leaning up against the door, Yixing beside him holding him up and Minho standing behind them.

"Jeonho!" the detective runs over to his partner, taking the place of the doctor in holding him up. Throughout the midst of confusion and surprises he forgot his partner had been hurt. "What are you doing here and not resting" he looks down at the boy.

"He wouldn't hear no for an answer, I couldn't keep him in bed. Dr. Zhang patched him up as best as he could  considering that the bullet at such close range was lodged pretty deep but nothing vital was hit" Minho informed, Sehun looked up at the male. "He's a natural, I myself only have a basic certificate in the study of anatomy and bodies but people weren't lying when they said he was a miracle worker" the male patted the doctor on the back and smiled at him, Yixing's face was unreadable but he then let a small smile come to his lips. 

"Miracles are only the perception of what people associate with someone trying their absolute best" Yixing says, folding his arms. 

Sehun had been blinded by hate earlier and didn't give enough credit to the male that despite being a criminal was also a talented surgeon. And being a person who also used their talent in the worst way he had no room to talk. "Let's do it" he hears Jeonho repeat, "lets team up and stop this guy, I don't want this city to become a pile of rubble. I'm in, Chief".

Sehun smiled at his partner whose eyes were determined, the taller detective looked at the older man and nodded. "I'm with him".

"All of you have gone insane. I can't believe what I'm hearing and seeing"  Leeteuk sighed "I'm always outnumbered in these decisions so I guess my team and I are also in" he says defeated. Sehun walks him and Jeonho over to stand beside the Chief, realizing they were all facing off against the group of criminals, who were looking at them. "Now you guys decide. This could work in both our favors" Chief states. 

"I wonder if the guy is handsome" Kai stands up, running a hand through his hair "I might be able to distract him a bit" he smiled and Sehun thought that the gesture enhance his beauty. 

"Hey slut, why don't you think with your brain and not your dick for once" Baekhyun looks back at the male before turning back to the room "I guess I might as well do something exciting if I'm going to be under police control". The rest of them seem to nod, "I don't like to be stolen from" Xiumin states with a hard frown.

"Let's fuck this guy up! I've been dying to shoot something" Chen shouts.

"If this is all I can do to be able to find this guy, then fine" Suho says evenly. "I guess that's settles it then. Welcome to the force, criminals" Chief said holding his hand out to the CEO, who shakes it firmly. He saw the head slightly wince.

Sehun was smiling unexpectedly, wanting to get on with the biggest case he's ever had to take on, in fact the biggest case the department has ever had to handle. He looks up then and the smile drops, the space where Chanyeol was standing was now empty; he was nowhere in the room.


	16. File Unlocked: Suho

Suho

 May 22nd 1991

 Boss

 

 

_Muffled, exaggerated laughter is all he heard as his head was being forcefully submerged into the murky water. They pulled his head back harshly and he gasps a big breath; the laughter now more prominent, more noisy; deafening to his ear. He hated it._

_"How do you like that, nerdy boy? Going to tell the teacher?" the boy who's made it his mission to ruin Suho's life growled harshly into his wet ear. "Because if you do, I'll soon put a dent in your "precious head"._

_Before the boy kneeling on the grimy bathroom floor could answer his head was soon submerged again and he was spluttering. Suho didn't understand why this happened to him everyday, the harassment, the name calling; the physical and verbal abuse. He didn't understand why most of the student body hated him, was it because he was school president? Was it because he made the cafeteria serve vegetables and healthy snacks? Was it because he answered all the questions in class? Because he was on a personal term with the principal? Suho really didn't know but it was becoming overbearing and putting a toll on his body._

_He realized his breath was catching, his head was still under and the bully still had a strong grip on his thin neck. Panic slowly rose, were they trying to kill him? Just then the muffled shrill of the bell sounded and his neck was released, he brought his head up quickly and gasped in big breaths. His hair was drenched in dirty toilet water and his crisp ironed clothes were wrinkled and dirty from the unsanitary floors. Suho turned his head slightly to look at the group of boys that tormented him more than anyone on a daily, one boy in particular, an average height male with black straight hair and stupidly stern face._

_"The next time I see you, you're getting it worse" he says with a frown before he turns and leaves to which his friends follow behind him not giving Suho another glance. The small male brought a sweater clad arm up and wiped his face as best as he could, he smelled disgusting. There was also a swollen bruise on his cheek where the bully had clipped him in his resistance to be head dunked in toilet water. He gets to his knees shakily and sighs. He goes to the bathroom sink and squeezes a hefty amount of soap into his hand to begin cleaning himself up as best as he could._

 

_School life has never been a good one for Suho as far as he could remember. He's never had friends, never been to anyone's birthday parties or sleepover because the kids deemed him as a killjoy nerd who had nothing better to do than arrogantly upstage people who didn't have his gifted talents of knowledge. But Suho wasn't like that at all or at least he didn't see himself as such; he was more of an easy going person who just liked to please everyone. His home life wasn't much different; he was a very pressured and neglected child and he had a underlined hate for his father that neither he himself could explain. His dad was a part of the head government that ran Ilcan and also the owner of the rising Kim Enterprises so all of Suho's life he's been around books and numbers and politics of all kinds, his whole being is to absorb knowledge and store it like his father wanted. Him and his brother were a slave to their brains in the silence and recluse of their dads home._

_They were a partially wealthy family but as you would have it everyone thought their dad was a bachelor. No one knew he had two boys he held in secret; something the two kids never understood themselves. Suho thought if anyone knew he wouldn't be the butt of everyone's anger and sometimes he wished he could abuse that to his benefit. But even though their dad was part of the government he always voiced how much he hated the wretched hags and old farts, he would sit Suho and his brother down and have strict study sessions on everything there was to know about running businesses, law and finances; things schools don't even teach you._ _Their father would always imply that he's getting them ready but for what he never said._

 

_The rest of the day Suho went about his devices in his wrinkled dirty clothes noticing people try to discreetly cover their noses at his smell despite his efforts to cover it up with bathroom soap. He immersed himself in his books and classes but as his luck would have it, students still found a way to harass him. Some group of girls took his glass and dropped them earning a crack in one of the lenses, they pulled on his suspenders and let them snap against his chest and when he bent over to clutch at the stinging spots they shoved a bunch of flowers in his face which to his dismay were ones he was allergic to, roses. They left him there as hives start scattering against his skin making him itch uncomfortably. These occurrences went on as he tried to go from class to class, he had spotted his brother a couple times but as always he was surrounded by groups of people; such a contrast to Suho who even being the eldest seemed more like the nerdy little brother._

_Finally school came to an end and Suho rushed to his locker to quickly pack up his things before anyone could catch him. He hastily closes his locker and clicks the lock closed, shouldering his heavy backpack full of textbooks. He makes a quick beeline to the front doors of the school ready to hurry home to the solitude of his bedroom until his father came home just to delve into more lessons._

_Suho rejoiced inwardly when he made it to the gates of the school without being picked on but his relief was short lived when he turned the corner and saw the same boy from this morning, the same boy that was his biggest tormentor. Suho froze as he came face to face with him, he watched as the black haired boy pushed off the brick wall that surrounded the school and walked up to him._

_"Well look who we have here, going home so soon? I thought we made plans to play later" the boys smile was menacing and Suho wanted nothing to do with it, so he kept walking or tried to. The boy caught his arm and twisted, Suho gritted his teeth and halted his steps, "ignoring me? I don't think so, I said let's play" he put emphasis on the last word as he yanked Suho's arm and the shorter fell backwards onto the pavement. Suho's chest was clenching as he looked up into the kids stern face, why was it only him he hated this much? Why won't he stop? What did he do to get treated like this?_

_Suho gets up again and walks by him, choosing not to indulge hoping the boy will lose interest even if it's been proven that he loved to make Suho's life miserable. And as it were he kept following him undeterred by Suho's lack of responses, taunting the smaller as they went along in the quiet neighbourhood, calling him names and chiding him._

_"You're nothing but a stupidly smart kid with no parents" he said "everyone thinks you're an orphan, no one has ever seen your mom or dad. What happened did they get tired of your arrogant ass too?" he laughed a dry laugh. Suho's chest clenched harder at the mention of his parents._

_"You're so prissy that your father probably thought you were gay and talked your mother into chucking you out like trash" he went on. "I'm surprised you even have a brother because even he doesn't look like he wants you. You're a loner and no one likes you" he taunted and taunted._

_Suho had been covering his ears trying to drown him out but his chest clenched harder and harder until it cracked and he abruptly stopped walking feeling as if his insides were bleeding. His mind was going crazy but for some reason there was a calm that was enveloping him. He turned and glanced up the street, Suho then looked at the boy who's bullied him for as long as he could remember and a hot feeling flamed around the calm and he smiled at him. The boys face formed into confusion before Suho lifted his arms and shoved hard at the boys chest sending him stumbling backwards into the street. He watched as the bully looked to his right hearing the sound of the too close truck who honked their horn too late and in seconds the boy disappeared under the vehicle with a sickening 'crunch'._

_Suho didn't stick around, he pulled up the hood of his jacket and continued to walk, the eerily calm feeling still clinging to him like glue. He felt nothing and Suho was increasingly getting drunk off of that fact with each step leading further and further away from the disastrous scene, finally, he thought._


	17. Chapter 9: Undone

Pheonix rushed across the scale of each building. He maneuvered his body around and over objects that sat at the top like big airvent cases or pipes; he leaped over the gaps between the identical buildings to get closer and closer to the overgrowth of forest he's used to disappearing into. 

Pheonix owned an apartment in the city when he wasn't required to navigate through the vast trees to where the others like him resided. It wasn't all that difficult seeing as he was trained to be as quick and agile as his body allowed, to be light on his feet almost as if floating on air. If a normal person were to see him running now, they would pretty much only see a blur of movement. Some might say that he had supernatural abilities but that's not it, not in the slightest. 

It was a long distance from the department to the outskirts of the forests that separated each city but he managed. He stops short at the edge of a building looking down onto the dirt ground and then at the view in front of him. The sight from up on the building would be something Pheonix would spend all night looking at if he had the time; the big bushy leaves of the trees spreading out into vast horizons and if you squinted you could make out the tops of other cities. Mountains were far off in the distance and who knows what else behind them but Chanyeol didn't need to squint, he could see it all; It was as if everything was laid out in front of him. He descended off the building using the ledges of the apartment suite windows before he got near the ground and let go, landing with a 'thud' on the patchy grass. Pheonix wasn't quite near the forest threshold yet, he still had to walk a bit through the open field between the overgrowth and the buildings. He could hear the laughter of children from a park the wasn't too far off and the chatter of people around the small neighbourhood. 

Even though people lived near the woods, they never entered it. Only those who wanted to go hunting or were brave enough just to go in for the thrill of it but the government always advised the citizens to steer clear as it was housed with wild animals of all kinds and the paths that were made centuries ago were closed up from not being used after the scheduled train, 'The RF05', was built. Pheonix looked around to see if anyone was near to see him slip into the dark space; the government also advised the citizens to call police if ever seeing anyone enter that's why hunters needed permits and thrill seekers went at night. Seeing no-one around that would turn him in he quickly passes through the green leaves and into the forest. The air smelled of bark and grass, it was very humid having all these trees clustered together but for Pheonix it was pretty easy to move around, especially if you knew where you were going. 

Rushing through the bushes and jumping over roots Pheonix hurried to his destination. Reaching a big tree he knew all too well, he stepped up onto its big, thick protruding root and jumped grasping onto the low branch overhead. Swinging himself up and over he plants his feet on the part of the tree before he looks up to see the next branch and once again jumps, using the thick tree trunk to push off with his leg; hands extended forward to grasp the brown rough object. Pheonix grunted as he pulled himself up again onto the branch standing on the thin space now looking into more leafy trees. He leaped to the next tree seeing the series of branches leading closer to the area he was meant to be. Grasping onto the first he uses the momentum to swing to the next, going along them like monkey bars at a play ground. 

Finally he reaches the familiar boarded platform. He steps onto it and looks up into the higher trees to see the makeshift housing community, it kind of looked like one extravagant tree house with different levels and spaces; shacks and huts camaflouged with leaves and branches and boardwalks to pass between each. If you were on the forest floor you wouldn't ever notice it and that's what Pheonix and his family took pride in. It looked abandoned and dreary but Pheonix knew everyone was either sleeping, out on missions or up in the highest parts that held the bars, training spaces and a meeting room. The tall assassin used the series of walkways and branches to ascend higher reaching the big huts, he felt the presence of many but made a beeline for the lone shack off to the end. It was a fairly big object that housed three bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom with chipped red paint on the roof and little makeshift steps to the door, Pheonix noticed one of the windows at the side was cracked open so he slid through into the dimly lit space. It brought back many memories everytime he planted his feet on the wooden floor; of when he was first brought here, learning the ropes, training. Suddenly his senses heightened and his shoulders stiffened as he moved aside quickly just as a firm fist knocks against the wall behind him. 

"How many times do I need to tell you to always be on your guard?" the voice rung out the dim lit shadows from where Pheonix once stood, followed by the tall body. "You took the bait of the open window but you were distracted. You still think way too much" the voice reprimanded in a clear low tone. 

Pheonix clenched his fist, the older male always did something like this whenever the younger was summoned back, he should've known better. "Sorry, father" he said standing taller and staring at the overcasted red velvety hood of the intimidating male, the same man who saved him from dying all those years ago. Pheonix had the utmost respect and loyalty to him, even if he only felt coldness in return. The older hums, "follow me, the meeting is starting in a few minutes" and without another word Pheonix watches as his father swiftly jumps out the same window he came in with, not looking back to see if the younger was following. With an inward kick to himself Pheonix followed abruptly, passing by the bars of hushed talking and strong shadows. They reach an archway with stairs on the otherside leading up to a lone door of a bigger hut than the rest. It had to be the most decorated one, with a green painted roof and leaves strung up against it, even flowers accompanied them.

They both climb the steps to the platform the hut rested on and as Pheonix's father opens the door the chatter of those inside quieted and heads turn their way. There was a long table in the middle of the room where all the previous heads sat at wearing the same velvety red hoods; the current seat at the other end of the table vacant for Pheonix's father to occupy. The younger followed confidently, shoulders relaxed and as his father sat Pheonix stood beside him as all the kids and relatives of the elders were. There was many people in the space, some with little kids in their black attires who paid no mind and played off to the sides. Suddenly the tall assassin felt a death grip around his shoulders and he turned around taking a quick, hard jab with his closed fingers outwards and open palm into their stomach. They let go and hunch over. "You fucking bastard" the voice gritted out before standing up again, looking at him. "Is that any way to treat your older sister?" her slightly lopsided grin giving off a charm all the other male assassins found cute. Pheonix scoffed and looked forward as the meeting commenced.

"You're lucky I didn't break a rib" he countered not indulging in her eccentric ways, something their father disliked about her. Once again Pheonix felt her arms around his shoulders but this time he didn't react, "you just caught me off guard, there's no way you would've got a hit in otherwise".

Joy wasn't like any other assassin Pheonix knew, she never seemed to where her hood showing off her bright green eyes and silk black hair, she was also loud and expressive; not to say that any of their other kin didn't have personalities but they preferred to show it in subtle ways. Joy was the odd one of the group that everyone learned to put up with, she was usually tasked with training up the kids on account of her ability to keep their interest in fun and exaggerated ways and the skills to match. Not all born into their kinship were skilled killers and fighters, some grew up to be scouts who went out to stake out targets or scavengers who picked up information or infiltrated, if needed like Joy herself, although because of their father she knew how to combat as well. When Pheonix first came to the family Joy didn't like him at all because even though they didn't speak on it, anyone could see that Pheonix was their fathers favourite; the way he just molded into the mysterious, expressionless aura and picked up on everything quickly and efficiently but the two have since learned to respect each other as they grew older and just naturally fell into that annoying older sister and the serious younger brother trope. 

"It wouldn't have mattered, I would still have the upper hand" Pheonix endulged. Joy let out an obnoxious laugh, halting the conversation going around the table and earning the eyes of everyone. They both felt the hard eyes of their father and they closed their lips and stood straighter. 

"Things seem to be going as plan" one of the elders said, an old woman who they called Lemon because like any old lady she carried candies around with her yet they were always lemon flavoured. "If we continue to cooperate they won't feel the need to smoke us out". A groan rung out and everyone turned of course, to joy who folded her arms with a frown. "I don't see why we are even in cohorts with those people, we have the talent and means to take them down" she put forth, "they are using us like animals and for what?" she huffed. 

The elder sighed but it was their dad who spoke up, low and strong. "Did you forget who it is we are working for, stupid child? One wrong move and everyone here will die the same way they live, assasinated" Pheonix glanced down at him and saw that his shoulders were relaxed but frame rigid, a sign of agitation. Pheonix also peeped that one of his hands near the knuckles were red, it must've been where he slammed his fist into the wall moments before. 

"Alecai is right. We can't do anything that would be detrimental to us, things are moving along faster than expected. Word around the camp is that they've already expanded to the other cities, ready to wreck havoc there too" she shook her head, "I understand Ilcan but the others? I don't know what he's thinking".

"It's clear" one of the old uncles, Ezen, spoke up. He was a scruffy looking male who has decades worth of scars, he was the recent head who retired from the position. "He intends to destroy everything, have everyone in the palm of his hand. His confidence and power has grown too much, especially with the new technology". "So what do we do?" spoke up one of the older kids standing beside Ezen, Pheonix didn't know his name just that he was the old man's nephew, his parents had died on a mission some years ago; Joy had informed him. Silence filled the room at the unanswerable question.

Suddenly Alecai spoke up again. "Pheonix" he said and the tall male turned to face his father, "yes?" he questioned. "I sent you on a special mission, did you find out anything?" he asked still turned to look forward, the people in the room look at them although Phoenix paid no mind until Joy started annoyingly pulling at his clothes. "Is that why you're wearing these?" her eyebrows raised in wonder , "to be honest you kind of fit the whole police look" she smiled.

In all the commotion Pheonix had forgot he was even wearing the uniform. Ignoring her, Pheonix turned to face everyone around the table, "they've caught all seven of the criminals, one having come at his own aid looking for help, the CEO of Kim Enterprises. They still don't know I am one of them" he spoke. A murmur of voices break out through the crowd.

"The CEO? That man you seem so attatched to, always doing jobs for him?" Joy spoke up and Pheonix finally punched her in the arm, sending her stumbling some steps away, cringing. A halted silence fell, "attached?" their father spoke out slowly turning to the taller who only stood straighter, Pheonix shook his head; as an assassin it was taboo to get attached to anyone and his dad was very strict on that rule as the current leader. The only people you look out for are your kin and even that only extends so far; "no father, he just pays very well" he reasons, somewhat thankful when their dad turns back to the crowd.

"Anything else?" their father demanded, his voice anything but amused. Pheonix nodded, "their teaming up with the police department, they're trying to find out who is setting off all these mishaps. I think their goal is to stop them" the taller smirked, "it was quite a sight" he said. 

Alecai hummed. Everything was getting increasingly difficult since they were sucked into this operation, having no choice when the Rebellion found them years prior. They attacked with no clear reason to which his community also fought back, Alecai had been stuck fighting one of them and being a man of diligence he went after him when they ran to the city; it was then that he had found Pheonix. When he had came back, the ones leading the attack had taken their best fighters and the rest were left to be used sparingly. How they found out about them, Alecai didn't know but they were soon under the thumb of a very clever leader who had them all where a tattoo at the back of their necks as a sign of loyalty and a way for entry into the camp, to differentiate who was an intruder and who wasn't. 

Alecai stood up. "Everyone's dismissed, there's nothing we can do at the moment that won't have us ending up in the crossfire. We'll just have to wait and see what happens". Nods and murmurs scatter around and chairs scrape against wood as the crowd disperses out the meeting hut. The only ones left were the two siblings and their father. "I'm going to the camp to inform them about the news" the older male says heading towards the door. "Dad are you sure you should do that? Isn't the whole idea of us having these meetings to find a way to end having to be at their beck and call? To stop them?" Joy questions. "If Pheonix is right and the police department--", 

"They're waiting for something, Joy" their father cuts her off.  "We are taking risks even having these meetings. At the end of the day if push comes to shove, we're already tied to one side" Pheonix watches as their father maneuvers the room, silently and efficiently in that way only he can. 

"Dad, not everything is about sides! We can think for ourselves, we serve for us not anyone else, isn't that what you taught us? Isn't that what you so painstakingly tried to drill into Pheonix and I?" Joy questions, exasperated. "We are assassins, Joy." Alecai stated, his back facing towards the two. "We are not supernatural beings. We train our bodies to the best of their abilities, yes, but we die and we don't come back. We are not enough to go against such a big operation with just the sake of a determined mind" their father lectured, "your mother is an example".

Pheonix catches the shocked face of his sister. "Dad!" she exclaims but the older male exits the room with no further words. Pheonix looks back at Joy before following his father out of the hut, he caught him before he gets to the stairway. "Father!" he calls to which the older male stops. "Should I come with you? To give more details?" Pheonix asks. 

"No" his father said blatantly, "what you should do is go home and read up on the basic rules, getting attached? Are you out of your mind? You know better" his mouth was dipped into a frown. "I said, he just pays well. That's all, nothing more" Pheonix shook his head, pleading his case. 

"Don't become like your sister, I don't need you to start dissapointing me, too" he then descended down the stairs and Pheonix watches, stomach dropping. As he follows his father's form before he disappears into the surrounding trees Pheonix clenches his hands into fists before jabbing one into the back pocket of his jeans and taking out his trusted lighter, something his father had given him to get over his fear when it got really bad. He starts flicking it frantically, trying to get a flame going. He walks over to the wooden rail staring down into their community, people idling around on different platforms, kids playing all regular everyday things; yet it feels so meticulously organized and stiff.

"Well, at least he's saying what he really feels. His silence is more hurtful and deafening" Pheonix heard Joy's voice behind him, he was still flicking absently at the lighter as she comes to stand beside him. "I will never understand why he can't just accept me for me" she says with sadness in her voice. 

"Because your a headache" Pheonix says grudgingly not in the mood to be of any comfort but her face becomes light again and she just laughs, shoving him lightly. "So daddy's little boy is getting the cold shoulder, I see. It's what you get for abusing me so often". Pheonix sighs and stops working his thumb on the metal rotator to look at her, Pheonix would never say it to her face but she was really beautiful and he was always a pain to any guy he caught staring at her too long.

"It's all your fault, anyways" he lowers himself so his forearms were resting on the rail, "do you think father likes us at all?" he asks. Joy follows suit and leans down on the rail, resting her cheek in her hand as she looks off into the trees with a fond expression. "Are you kidding? Dad loves you, I'm the one that should be asking that question. If it was me just now I'm pretty sure he'd disown me on the spot" she shakes her head with a smile. "He's just not a man of many words or emotions and after mom died and the addition of the rebellion, it has become worse". Pheonix pockets the lighter and finds himself leaning his hoodie clad head on his sisters slim but toned shoulders. A giggle escapes her lips, "ah. There's the sweet boy I remember, who used to come into my room crying when training didn't go well even though I hated his guts" she pats his head but then groans and Pheonix feels her hand slip under his hood but before he can react she flips the hood off his head, "these are really annoying".

Pheonix instantly stood back up, ready to flip the fabric back on but Joy plants two strong hands on his shoulders and looks at him softly. "You don't always have to be tough and coldblooded, you know? That's not you and I know it. Dad can instill a different persona into you but he can't get rid of the real thing" her eyes were strong and she lifts one hand and brushes it again the exposed bandages "I know you can't remember much of who you used to be but don't lose all of it. The way things are forming, you'll need it".

Joy lets him go and they both fall into a silence as they look over the railing in their own thoughts. She was right, Pheonix knew what his father wanted from him and he trained long enough to execute it perfectly but every now and again he felt as if someone else was clawing their way to the surface, someone softer and timid that he doesn't ever remember being. Anytime his father had caught a glimpse of it when he was younger, he would take him to the training shacks and work him to the bone, physically and mentally. Pheonix reached for the lighter again, taking it out and fingering it, tracing the imprinted flame. The nightmares of the orphanage never really went away like his father wanted and was still plaguing his mind however rarely, maybe that's why he couldn't completely fall into this version of himself.

"How did your mom die?" Pheonix asked, breaking the silence and putting the lighter away before reaching underneath his straight black hair to untie the rough, thin cloth that encased one side of his face. Joy watched him and Phoenix felt the soft breeze brush against the now exposed skin that was no longer charred and bruised like years before but he couldn't see, there was nothing to see from. He held the fabric in his hand, "She died on a mission when I was around 15" Joy finally spoke, turning away from him, "it was one of her hardest targets and dad had offered to go with her but she felt like she could do it on her own, everything just went wrong; she tried to do more than she could handle and it ended in her death". 

"As assassins, we have a lot of pride and we only pick battles we know we can win or else we're just putting ourselves on a silver platter. I guess that's what dad's trying to say in this situation, but still" she sighed heavily and turned to her brother. "Shouldn't you get back to the city before they think anything suspicious?" Joy asks and Pheonix shrugs, "probably". He looked down at the cloth and reached out over the railing letting it dropped from his hand and flutter down going wherever the wind carried it.

"How is it over there, anyway?" Joy pushes herself up off the rail and Pheonix thinks still watching the white fabric, "It's not as bad and tedious as I thought it would be and having access to their weapon room is a treat but the waiting around is getting annoying and so is the pretending; I guess you can say the people are interesting but that's it. Kyungsoo gave me this fake identity, Chanyeol, and I have to act like a gung-ho freshman following in my idolized senior's footsteps " he says and his sister hums. "Chanyeol?" she questions, testing the foreign name on her tongue before smiling, "I like it, suits you. I'll call you that from now on". 

Pheonix scoffs. "Not if you don't want to get hurt plus I wouldn't answer" but Joy just laughs, "like you can hurt me". Pheonix raises and eyebrow at her before enveloping her in a headlock. She squeals but repetitively says, "Chanyeol, Chanyeol" to which Pheonix holds her tighter. She finally stops struggling and laughing to tap him and Pheonix let's go with a smug smirk, Joy twists her face in mock disgust her smile not really leaving. "Ugh, when is the last time you showered? You smell sweaty and gross" she pinches her nose for emphasis and Pheonix indulges her by lifting an arm and smelling his armpit, he did stink some. 

"Go home and shower before you leave" She says walking behind him and shoving him towards the stairs. "Alright, alright" he says pulling on back his hood. He quickly descends the stairs and the effortless smile he wore moments ago slips and a thin line is replaced, he will always be two halves of one person; one he barely remembers and another that's been given to him. 

"Chanyeol!" he hears and to his surprise without a second thought he turned around, looking up from where he had came. Joy stood there waving with a big smile on her face, "it worked! You liar". A small smile came to him before he turned and jumped off a platform into the see of green below.

\------------------

Sehun never thought this would ever happen, having seven dangerous criminals sitting in his small, cozy living room; along with some police officers standing off to the sides in case they were needed on Leeteuk's order who was also standing not far off with the Chief, It would've been eight if they knew enough to find out who and where the last OT8 criminal was. Sehun emerged from the kitchen that separated from the small space by a vacant rectangular doorway, he carried a tray full of various glasses of water, there was chatter going on but he was paying no attention as he set the tray on the coffee table with the help of Jeonho. 

His partner has constantly reiterated that he was fine but Sehun could see him wince at slight movements even if Minho has him on high painkillers and told him to rest, Sehun felt extremely horrible at the state of his friend. After he set everything down he helped his partner into a chair they had pulled from around the kitchen table as the sofas were all being occupied; Baekhyun, Yixing, Chen and Kai sat on the long couch while the CEO, Xiumin and Kyungsoo sat in the other. They were in a makeshift circle around the coffee table as how Sehun had designed his living room; Baekhyun was the first to take advantage and grab a glass of water before chugging it loudly and putting it back. Sehun finally entered the circulating conversation while standing behind Jeonho's chair. 

"We can't just rush into this, it's already become dangerous, we honestly don't know anything about who could be involved" Leeteuk said with his hands on his hips looking at the mix of criminals. Sehun saw the disbelief and confusion in his eyes most likely from wondering how we even got into this situation to begin with. Sehun had to agree, everything was out of whack. 

"Then what do you suppose we do if not take action? The antagonist has already started with very big blows" Suho spoke up, he sat with his arms folded and looked the most in control throughout the whole room. Sehun somehow admired the males way of solidifying his power in every scenario despite not having the upper hand. Suho raises his lowered eyes to look around the room before his eyes settled on Sehun, the older males eyebrow raises and his gaze lingers long enough to make the taller uncomfortable before he moved on to which Sehun saw little smirk grace his lips. 

 

"We need to come up with a plan or else we'll just be doing things blind and that won't help anyone. This guy is the equivalent of a cereal killer" Sehun spoke and eyes turn to him, "first we have to find out more information, we oiterally know nothing apart from this person has a serious thing for public slaughter".

"Actually we do know something" Kyungsoo stated "like I told you back at the buildings downtown. I witnessed many black clothed guys running around, we can deduct that he's not working alone but with many people" hair big eyes stared at Sehun. 

"The detective and owl boy are right, this guy clearly doesn't have a code and conduct for criminal activity, he's on a different level and probably has a lot of minions working for him" Chen stated leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "Things just got more complicated and bloodier" a smile climbed across his face as he too looked around at everyone.

"I am not 'owl boy'. It's Kyungsoo," the big eyed male frowned at Chen who only shrugged, "I have no reason for fake names now that I have been caught".

Yixing scoffs. "You are never of help to anybody" he said and Chen frowned. Yixing stood and Sehun saw the officers at the sides tense and move there hands abruptly to their waists and taking a step forward, Yixing noticed too. "Woah" he exclaimed with his hands up in surrender "calm down boys, I'm not even armed and I have no intention of doing anything" he smiled crookedly before he started pacing the small space between the couches as he addresses the entire room. "You see, I know a lot of people" he started, "even those I've encountered before I came to the city". "Oh great, a life story" Baekhyun interrupted, rolling his eyes. Chen laughed at the timid attack and Kai hushed him.

"Anyways" Yixing continued seemingly unbothered, "I knew a group of people who I used to help and sell things to in my earlier days, we had a seemingly good business relationship until they cut ties but I've kept in touch with one, she's never really been keen on following the rules and I'm sure she has some insight as she's a freelancer that travels about each city".

"Lay we don't have time to track down one of your many friends. If she's a freelancer it's most likely she's on the run or in hiding" Suho stood up, stating. "she most likely doesn't keep the same contact if she uses any at all, we'll just be sitting around as blind as we are right now" the CEO groaned and rubbed his temples as murmurs shoot around, Sehun watched as Leeteuk and Chief have a word with each other. "Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this, it's a headache and I have more pressing matters, Seulgi will run my company into the ground if I leave her for too long" he makes a move to leave when Yixing put a hand on his chest. 

Suho looked at him and frowned. "What do you think your doing?" Sehun saw the officers tense again but more hesitant this time as if not sure.

"You can't back out now, we already made a deal. Have you forgotten what we are? We are criminals, leaving now means your just asking to be locked up right away. These officers aren't just going to let us walk out that door" Yixing said a hand still on the CEOs chest before the male brushed it off him. 

Suho was fuming, why he thought these guys would be of any help to him, he didn't know. That letter and that name kept coming back to him, he glared at the surgeon. The same man he slept with back in college when they were both working for their degrees, although Suho didn't have to do much as he was already in transition to acquiring his dads business after his passing but he still had a lot to learn as he wanted to expand it to what it was today. The same man who told him stories of his killings, of how he did them without getting caught while he was deep inside him; they both got off on it as sick as it sounds.

The CEO looked into the familiar unstable eyes that fought between a criminal and a soft, clueless surgeon. It was what gave off the notion that Lay was crazy, how he was able to pass the board of doctors without giving away his bipolar behaviour Suho never found out but it's what attracted the male in the first place, he would look soft and innocent one minute and scary and intimidating the next. But all this didn't matter to the CEO anymore, all this was over and he only cared for himself, in fact he knew every one of them were here for their own selfishness not because they wanted to save the city. It's why when he landed his eyes on the tall skinny detective he felt sick with laughter.

"Don't tell me what to do, don't try to 'guide' me. That's not how we're doing good things anymore" he frowned at the slightly taller male who only looked back with dry eyes. "I'm going to leave, because this is a waste of my time" he went to pass by but Lay only planted another hand on his chest to which Suho pushed him off and Lay stumbled back and fell on the coffee table, cracking it into pieces and the glasses of water tumbling with it, spilling all over him. This time the officers did advance on Leeteuk's urging; they came over and detained Suho by some pointing guns and two holding his arms back. Others looked on in confusion and surprise. 

"What the hell?! Why are guys fighting like an old married couple who can't stand to see each others face? We are all in a predicament here, it's not time to lash out" Xiumin said, him and everyone else was standing at this point. 

"He is right, this isn't helping anything, we don't have much time. We don't know when they'll do something next and to what scale" Chief walked closer frowning at the scene. 

"Isn't it obvious" the sultry voice of Kai spoke out as he ran his hand through his hair looking on, "they had a thing" he stated. A chorus of 'What's' sounded around the room, even Sehun was surprised. He looked at Lay who's face was passive and Suho who was glaring with the intent to kill and suddenly Sehun's heart started to pump. This is not how things should go even if they are criminals for this to work, and it must as they had no other way, they needed to be on the same page.

Suddenly everyone started exchanging loud words from Baekhyun arguing with Chen who was making unflattering vulgar jokes to Kai about the fact that that was no way near possible, Suho trying to escape the officers grasps and Leeteuk shouting at him, to Chief trying to settle everyone down. Xiumin and Kyungsoo were the only two who just watched on with frowns. 

 

"SHUT UP!" Sehun jumped and the place immediately became quiet as everyone looked in Jeonho's direction. Sehun looked down at his partner who looked mad which was a rare sight if any. "Chief didn't ask all of you to partner with us for you to be disrespectful and act like buffoons, we have a serious matter on our hands and he put a trust in you guys that you fail to see. We acknowledge you all are criminals and won't always get along because of how big your egos are but that's exactly why we need you" Jeonho stood up so fast Sehun was scared he would reopen his stitches and fall over but he stayed on his feet despite the olders worries. "We need you to use your criminal minds for ours and the cities benefits" he finished.

After a beat of silence everyone backed off and composed themselves, Sehun was surprised but thankful to his friend but Jeonho soon fell back into the chair exhausted. It must've taken too much out of him to yell like that. An awkward silence passed through everyone until an unsuspecting rumbling started to materialise. Sehun felt the floorboards under his feet shake.

"What is that?" Chief asked just as the rumblings become more aggressive and things on Sehun's walls start to shake and hit against their hard surfaces, even those on the mantle near the TV. "An earthquake?" Baekhyun speculated but wasn't very convinced. 

"Wouldn't the news have warned us about that? Xiumin questioned after, now they were all trying to hold on to something and trying not to fall. There was loud whirring sounding over their heads and they all look up "I think it's coming from outside" Yixing said. Without another word they all trudge wobbly to the door, when they step outside they see that others are standing out on their porches or stepping out of their homes, even pedestrians who were walking through the neighbourhood stopped in their tracks and were looking skyward. Sehun noticed the objects were rattling about like their really was an earthquake, everyone tried to keep their footing. 

"Holy shit" Chen voiced and all seven criminals and police officers followed his gaze to the where he had been looking. Sehun's mouth dropped at the scene, there in the sky were big bulky flying contraptions that looked straight out of a sci-fi fantasy book. They were silver and crescent shaped, with sail like wings jutting out of them, connecting them to the body was what looked like wires; there was at least four of them flying over them all, the whirring more defending and the rumbling more frantic, Sehun found himself on the ground still looking up in utter disbelief. That's when Sehun saw hatches open up from underneath and squinted his eyes as he saw small black things falling from them but as they fell closer and closer they became more bigger and soon the world erupted in a blinding light. 


	18. Episode 10 : The Cards are Set

His head was throbbing and all he heard were muffled screams as if he was underwater and loud 'whooshing' sounds overhead. Baekhyun opened his eyes slowly only for them to widen at the chaos he saw; many people were running around screaming, some standing in one place no knowing what to do as they stared up to the sky at the big flying ships that were dropping black round object that destroyed the ground around them, bombs Baekhyun thought. He saw houses turned to rubble where they once peacefully stood and fire catching at any random thing, Baekhyun felt the hard pavement underneath his back as he recalled what had happened.

Baekhyun pushes himself up, clutching at his still throbbing head only to come away with a bloody hand, "shit" he muttered. Looking around him he saw everyone else lying discarded against the ground, some still unconscious but a few already groaning to life. The conman eyed the lean detective who lay disheveled a few foot away from him, leaning over to one side with his backed turned to the smaller. This is bad, Baekhyun thought to himself, really bad. Suddenly he felt a presence looming over him, someone's shadow spraying out in front of him under the golden glow of the setting sun and Baekhyun looks up only to recoil from the sight. A glaring red eye stared down at him, an abnormality Baekhyun has never seen and if he was honest, a bit unnerving. All he could do was stare and only then did he realize that there was only one, there was nothing on the other side just a gory looking scar.

"Get up, hurry" the deep voice of the person standing over him urged. He leaned down to wrap a big hand around Baekhyun's arm hoisting him up into a standing position, the smaller still in a state of shock and uncertainty but the black over drafting hood now replaced by and outright cloak was hard to mistaken. 

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun questioned. The other male was already by the lean detective's side helping him up swiftly before he turned back, the lone glaring and unnerving red eye was back to being hidden.

"Help me" he said simply his cloak like hood swishing as he moved. He picked up another, Xiumin, before moving to a next, "we have to go". 

Baekhyun didn't know what to do so he just helped, getting those who were disoriented to their feet. Baekhyun didn't know why he was doing this as he could easily escape and run away on his own seeing as everything in the city was going to shit. People were still running, some pushing past him with no courtesy; he heard screams of kids who couldn't find their parents and the bombs were still causing the ground to shake. He looked to his right, detective Sehun's house wasn't far from the police department so they were all still fairly near the downtown scene. 

He looked back at the tall cloaked male, the way he moved was smooth and airy. Baekhyun walked over to where Lay, Suho, Xiumin and Sehun stood beside the dark man trying to gather themselves.

"What the hell is going on!? " Chen exclaimed from behind Baekhyun where everyone else stood. 

"I have no idea" Sehun shook his head turning to ask if the department Chief was okay, even Leeteuk as they walked over to the younger detective, his partner already there. 

"I'm telling you, this is the mullet demons coming to claim us for that dreadful era" Kai stated with a scrunch if his face, coming to stand beside Baekhyun who felt like his brain could melt from the males annoying ignorance. "We are all pretty sure that's not it, Kai" the conman stated. 

"Seriously, everything's on fire and those ships?!" Chen's head snapped skyward and so did everyone else noticing that the four ships were now in a square like formation.

"Is everyone just playing dumb in this moment or is this your nature?" the owl eyed guy spoke up, his voice deep like Chanyeol's but instead of a undertone of husk his was smooth and soft. "It is obviously those that have been causing you lot turmoil this whole time" the short male shook his head as in disbelief at their lack of comprehension.

"Thank you, Kyungsoo. At least I can always count on you" Chanyeol spoke up with a smile that Baekhyun fleetingly found charming before it dropped into a frown. "Now follow me, this isn't the worst of what's coming. We need somewhere to hide out and think this through" he proposed.

"Wait wait, what?" Sehun voiced looking at the male "do you know something about this? And where exactly have you been this whole time? You just disappeared" he eyed the cloaked man who turned his head in his direction. He just stood there looking at the detective before he moved passed, heading in the opposite direction of the chaos, screaming and explosions. 

"Chanyeol? Do you?" Sehun once again asked. Everyone else watched, somehow knowing what was coming but stayed where they were although Baekhyun saw movement in the corner of his vision and looked over to see Lay walking by them all and going over to stand by the taller male. 

"It's not Chanyeol, it's Pheonix. And he's your eighth 'OT8' criminal" the surgeon stated with his arms crossed, gaze steely.

"You knew?" Sehun asked the doctor who shrugged in return "I'm sure you already had an inclination yourself".

"Look" Chanyeol or rather 'Pheonix' started, his frown not leaving his lips which somehow made Baekhyun more on edge than any of the players flirting. "I know more than you guys think. And I'm telling you, this is cakewalk" he gestured to the ships briefly, "soon this city and maybe others are going to become a slaughter house".

Pheonix turned around and began walking with Lay, both having a small talk as they get further and further. Baekhyun sees those beside him moving to go after them, Chen playfully giving punches to the air as he hops from side to side, Kyungsoo silently walking along with Xiumin, Kai and Suho not far behind. 

"You said you wanted us to 'work together' " Suho exaggerated with air quotes as he walked backwards staring at the three officials but mostly the Chief, "don't tell me you all are backing out now" he turned and continued walking. 

Baekhyun still stood in his spot looking back down the street and around at the mess, he was someone that did everything on his own, he didn't need anyone else to look after and as he looked behind him he wondered if he should just slip away and fend for himself, after all this was his sole opportunity to do so. He didn't notice that Sehun, Leeteuk and the Chief along with the scatter of policeman had already started walking behind the lot. 

"Hey! Sweet lips!" Baekhyun turned around at the ridiculous nickname to see Chanyeol, the smaller deciding that the name flowed and suited the male better, standing there with his hands cupped around his mouth and everyone standing with him looking back at the conman; the taller waved him over "Let's go!".

Without another glance behind him Baekhyun found his feet moving him closer to the group of people you wouldn't ever think to put together. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to stick around a little longer, Baekhyun thought now entering a jogging movement, slowing down as he reaches everyone. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked at the Chief who smiled a knowing smile as if he knew what Baekhyun had been thinking before they continued on their way with the chaos and madness going on around them; they had to stop this, they had to find a way and fast. 

 

\---------------------

 

"Take the children and hurry to the ground!" Alecai yelled as everything unfolded. He watched as adults took the kids in a huddle to the platform edges letting the older ones jump first as the younger ones were carried via piggyback. He looked up towards the sky, the ships now out of viewpoint from where they were. 

Alecai had just returned from informing their boss of what Pheonix had told him but what he didn't expect was a while later for there to be ground rattling rumbles and the picture of the ships he's seen so many of his kin work on at the camp flying over head. Now those who were left that weren't mothers and nurses are gearing up in their cloaks and combat attire, wielding their preferred weapons as their tree house like home burns from a suspiciously accurate drop of a bomb, catching many who decided to be at the bars that morning.  

"It's starting" Alecai breathed out feeling the weight of his weapon on his hip, an intricately designed sword that weighed more than the average man. His father had given it to him all those years ago when the only thing he had to protect was himself, now he had a whole community under his belt. 

"No duh, Sherlock" came a voice from beside him. Alecai turned his head to see his daughter, Joy. " I knew it wasn't a good idea to share that information" she turned from the hussle of people to look at him. It was a rare moment you ever saw her in a cloak, looking like the assassin she was supposed to be; in that moment before she pulled the hood over head, Alecai could only think of her mother who she resembled so seamlessly.

Joy tucks her two daggers in either sheath on her hip and looks at her intimidating father standing amongst a burning fortress. "Look around dad, they had no intention of keeping us safe just because we wore a badge of ownership" Joy stated fanning her hand over head at the rapidly burning shacks and trees above. "I know my words have never meant anything to you but it's now or never; it's either we save our people or send them to their deaths". 

Alecai looks around feeling a daunting concave of feelings seeing the decades old home he's ever known and have grown to help expand, burn. He frowns to himself and turns to leave; not wanting to admit that maybe he did mess up, before Joy shouts. "Mom was a fool!" the intimidating man stoped in his tracks to turn around, "what did you say?" his voice low, a warning. "We both loved her but she was a fool, dad. To think she can handle all those men on her own but like me!" Joy jabbed a finger into her chest "she was only trying to prove herself to you". A piece of a Hut from above crashes behind Joy but she doesn't flinch and only focuses on addressing her father. 

"She had told me so much of how you protected her always, she was greatful for someone like you and even though I was too young then to understand, I do now. She used to ramble to me about how, even though she loved you for protecting us, you were keeping her from being who she really was just like you are doing to me. You never listened and in the end you lost her" Joy felt her eyes water but held them back, it wasn't the time. 

"Joy" Alecai said lowly just as another stray piece of their destroyed home fell and smashed through the landing they standed on.

"Do you want to lose me too, dad? Because I'd do anything to show you that even if I'm a scavenger, I'm just as good an assassin as the rest, it was never about me not wearing my hood or because my personality was too outgoing and eccentric" Joy continued " it was because I couldn't become what you wanted me to be like what you made of Pheonix" Joy lectured. 

More pieces from above fell and took away parts of the platforms in its path along with the one they were standing on, as more things we're being set on fire. "Joy, we have to go, now" Alecai stated his instincts itching to kick in seeing her losing her footing. 

Suddenly he hears shouts and screams from the depths below, accompanied by gun shots. Alecai whipped his head over the side from where he stood, his heart hammering. A scream pierces the air and as Alecai looks back over to Joy the place where she stood is obstructed by more falling pieces and she starts falling. Alecai was quick on his feet as he went and took a hold of her hand to which she held on tightly, her hood having fell away and her worried green eyes staring back at him. Below them was a scarily high fall without any support, straight to the ground between wide parted trees.

"Give me your other hand" Alecai extended his right still hearing the screaming and gunshots below. Joy reached for it, "dad, we have to go help them" the intimidating male started to heave her up just as her eyes opened with surprise and fear. 

"Look out!" she shouted just as something hard and burning hits Alecai in the back and his surroundings sending both falling through the destroyed platform. Alecai ignored the pain in his back and quickly turned him and Joy midair so that he was underneath and she was above. "Dad, what are we going to do?" Joy questioned frantically, staring at the void below them. Alecai looked around to see how he could prevent then from falling to their deaths, his sword wouldn't be able to reach any of the tree's trunks to lodge it into and slow their progression. 

Just then he felt something hard twist and coil around the both of them, constricting their arms and bodies. "Looks like you got yourself into a predicament there, Alecai" a gruff voice speaks and both Joy and Alecai move their heads as they stop falling to see Ezen clinging to a tree trunk with a knife lodged in the bark and his free arm pulling at his whip like weapon. 

"You were right, uncle. We do look cool" the old males nephew spoke up, in the same position as his uncle holding the family steady in midair.

"Now let's get you down" Ezen nods to his nephew and they both start swinging the two, although the momentum of it makes their lodged knifes move inch by inch. As they swing them Alecai sees a tree branch get closer and closer, so as the two relatives retract their weapon Alecai reaches out to roughly grap onto the familiar object, Joy following suit.

They watch as Ezen and his nephew, Genze, swing their whips around the same tree branch and swing themselves over. Without another word they descend down the big tree to the green ridden floor of the forest only to come upon a horror scene. Joy gasped as they lay eyes on the bloody dirt and abandoned bodies. 

"What happened" Alecai boomed. 

"They ambushed us, as soon as we set foot on the ground they fired. We all fought back but some were just not lucky" Ezen shook his head as he saw some kids bodies lying lifeless along with their mothers and some of their fighters. "The ones we did manage to help escape went south to Lancor" Ezen continued "I sent along all the remaining fighters with the other council members and kin".

Joy whipped around at her father. "We have to find Pheonix. If he's right and he's teamed up with those criminals and the police department then we also have to help them. Like I said dad it's now or never, we can't be pawns anymore that's not what our people are. We cooperated and look where it got us, a destroyed home and our kin killed!" Joy said, upset. Her dads head lowered to look at those lying lifeless. There were some of the men in black they've come to be familiar with but not enough. 

"This isn't the time to make decisions on you're own anymore, you always hold Pheonix and I and pretty much our whole community at arms length but we're a family, we will all understand if you ask us for help" Joy stated, knowing her father was probably thinking on what he should do and not what they all should do.

"She's right, Leader" Genze said sending a smile Joys way "but we might need to go back to the camp".

"What?!" Joy exclaimed "did you not see what they did? Were you not listening to me?".

The boy nodded but still addressed her father, Ezen standing off to the side, arms crossed and velvety hood drawn, for an old man who retired he was still fit and good in action. "I was but what we noticed is not one of our kin they took was in the pack, assuming that they would've used such strong assassins for their benefit " he stated. "My uncle and I believe their locked up at the camp" Genze informed before Ezen lifted his head, his hood swaying "they might be meaning to execute them all". Joy felt her jaw clenching.

Alecai was silent as he thought things through. "I'm going to need your guys' help" he said and Joy looked at him with surprise although a smile played its way to her lips. "They wouldn't leave that place unguarded and I'm sure that man is still there seeing over things. We will need all the back up we can get and that means finding my son, but before that, I know someone with a group of her own despite her lone wolf ways" Alecai informed. 

"Dad, you don't mean-" , "yes" Alecai interrupted Joy. "She's our best bet at the moment for solid backup before we can go after Pheonix. The city streets are likely now crawling with the rebellion, slaughtering and taking out innocents. I know where she and her team are hiding out but we have to hurry, time isn't on our hands" Alecai turns and starts speeding off to the right and into the trees. 

"Let's go. There's nothing left here for us" Ezen said before following suit. Joy looks up only to see a charred heap of nothing inbetween black burned tree'qs, her eyes widened with stilled tears.

"We can do this, Joy. I'm sure your dad and brother know what their doing, let's do our part too" Genze said, slightly and bit shakily taking her hand and squeezing it offering a soft smile before letting go. 

"Yeah, but I always feel like the odd one out and that their years ahead of me" Joy said with a sigh, thinking about how Pheonix is off making his mark and her father was already getting into action. Genze only chuckled, "you got your dad to admit he needs help and that day outside the meeting room you got your brother to understand that he doesn't have to be two sides of one person because he's both" he stated leaving out the part that the reason he saw that was because had hid himself near the side of the Hut holding flowers he had built courage to pick for her and if Joy wanted answers on how he knew that, she didn't ask. "It seems to me like you're the one pushing them forward. Now it's time to show them who you are".

Genze runs into the bushes a blur of movement pulling a smiling Joy behind him. They soon caught up with the two older males, all if them hurrying and racing against time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Sir, everything's going as planned" one of his many companions of the rebellion informed him as he sat back relaxed against his chair in the dim warehouse. "The assassins were ambushed, some perished but others got away. Their hideout no longer stans, Should I send some of our own after them?". 

The male in the chair shook his head and chuckled low until it grew in octaves and turned into a boisterous, humourless laugh. He listened to the yelling and shouting coming from out the big metal doors as he rounded up the assassins he had took prisoner to help him and his people work on their weapons, although he knew they were putting up a fight. "The rebellion is starting" he stated as he lowered his head to look at the picture he held, "isn't that right mom and dad? I'm finishing your work, aren't I?".

His eyes scan down the picture and a frown comes to his features and he throws aside the cigarette he had been nursing. "Except we still have a problem, an obstacle. How rude" he turns the picture a bit and starts tearing out a section, throwing it to the ground and lifted up what was left over as the piece drifted into an oil puddle.  "That's better, that's how it should've been". He held the picture up, reminiscing, before crushing it in one hand.

The male looks at the one man standing off to the right, "inform my right hands that I have a separate task for them" he addresses "tell them I want a certain group of criminals brought back here" the male smirked menacingly. 

The man in black obeys, leaving the seated male alone. He leaned over the handle of his chair and looked at the soaked piece of ripped picture, leaning his head against folded arms. "Looks like we'll finally see each other after all these years" another chuckle leaves him "too bad it'll be of me killing you, isn't that right brother?". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"So you're an assassin and your kind have been helping this man complete a rebellion?" Baekhyun voiced in disbelief. 

Chanyeol nodded his head, his hood swishing, the image of what was underneath still giving Baekhyun chills, even if he only had a glimpse. "Albeit against our will but yes, if we didn't help they would assassinate our community and their group of men come in thousands to our hundreds which half were taken for their benefit" Chanyeol informed. 

Sehun couldn't believe his ears. He had no clue the scale of this was so big, bigger than a sereal killer. There was an actual army of people who wanted to take out this city and possibly many others. "This is kind of badass" Chen voiced up with a grin on his face. 

They were all sitting in Chanyeol's apartment he had bought to stay in the city although they now knew it wasn't because he moved here to be a policeman and follow in Sehun's footsteps. Baekhyun stared at the overly mysterious man that despite having told us an insight to his life was still guarded and looked unapproachable although Baekhyun was surprisingly kind of warming up to him. He must've caught the smaller staring because Chanyeol sent him a knowing smile to which Baekhyun just rolled his eyes. 

"Take off your hood" Baekhyun stated abruptly which surprised everyone to which they looked back at the taller, in silent, guarded anticipation.

"Baekhyun" Lay started to warn but the smaller shook his head as he sat on the kitchen table, only Kyungsoo looked unphased. 

"I do not think it is something you all want to see" the owl eyed boy offered up but Baekhyun shook his head again "this guy is a two way spy. If he shows us what he looks like assuming no one but his family has seen it, it'll give us a sense of trust" the smaller stated.

"Short stuff has a point" Kai agreed earning a glare from Baekhyun himself at the teasing name.

"He does. If we are going to work together we might as well know that none of us will backstab each other" Xiumin folded his arms. 

Chanyeol sighed and brought his hand up to the fabric, Sehun and everyone unconsciously leaned a little more forward. He gripped the ends and pulled it back and looked at the room of people, everyone but Kyungsoo gasped and even though Baekhyun saw it moments before, without the hood it was even more eerie.  His hair was long and his bangs slightly covered his eyes but the gory scar and one intense red eye stills told out. But that wasn't really what Baekhyun was focused on this time around because despite all that the assassin was a really good looking male. His face were soft but prominent with a smooth jawline and those plush lips that was always tipped into a familiar, flirty smirk added to his cuteness.

"Woah" Kai said to which Chen nodded along. Chanyeol turned around and brushed aside his hair to reveal a bluish tattoo against his skin "This is our sign of loyalty and ownership, which doesn't mean much since my people are neither of those things to this rebellion" he turned back around and readorned his hood, shrouding himself back in mystery and folding his arms. 

"Dude, what happened to your eyes" Chen asked still looking on in wonder. 

Chanyeol sighed again looking uncomfortable, something Baekhyun has never seen on the male, clearly not wanting to talk about it and Baekhyun was oddly ready to punch the over excited male and tell him to mind his business when the taller opened his mouth. "One was burnt badly in a fire at an orphanage I stayed at and the other was damaged as well by a stray board, blinding me" Chanyeol stated darkly. "Lay made me a new one, although the colour came out more red than brown" the taller slightly turned to the surgeon who rubbed his neck sheepishly. 

Baekhyun racked his brain as he took in Chanyeol's words, vaguely remembering a similar story gracing the news all those years ago when he first started conning people out their money as a kid. 10 boys had been registered into the orphanage but only 9 and their house mother were found in the ashes, Baekhyun looked over at the tall assassin who stood straight with his mouth drawn into a thin line; the smaller wondered if Chanyeol could be the tenth one.

"You look sick man, you would've been an action figure I wanted when I was younger" Chen spoke up randomly and Kai nodded "I still want to ride his dick" he said and everyone groaned but Chanyeol smirked, seemingly coming back to life.

"We should get to the matter at hand now" Suho spoke up pushing off from where he leaned against a wall. The Chief agreed, "everything is going to crap out there and you're our only lead to this so called 'rebellion' ".

"What does the leader look like?" Suho asked but Chanyeol frowned and shrugged, "that's the thing only my father and those that had been taken has ever seen him, I tried to go with him when I went back but he shut me down" Suho groaned at that. 

"Wait, you still know where they reside, right?" Kyungsoo asked. " Yeah, like where their base is?" Xiumin added. 

"Guys!" Jeonho voiced from where he stood by the window out in the hall, "I think things are getting worse" his face looked like absolute horror and everyone looked at each other before huddling around him to look outside. 

Down on the street people were ducking into places, some still running not knowing where to go only to fall face first into the pavement, red pooling around them. Suddenly loud turrets of shots sound out and screaming citizens come running around the corner banging on already locked doors. The crew watched as most dropped dead from fired bullets by a group of men in black holding shot guns. 

"It's them" Kyungsoo said and everyone looked at him, "the men who I saw running around that day the apartments downtown caught fire".

"We got to do something now, people are dying!" Leeteuk exclaimed,  Sehun's eyes were skidding across the floor, thinking hard and as they stood there more shots sounded. "This has to be the most gunshots I heard in one place, even the casino club wasn't this bad" Chen said "And I caused most of them". 

"Okay guys right now Chanyeol is the only one dressed for this scene and Leeteuk and his police officers. All of us are easy targets" Sehun spoke. 

"Right, we need gear and weapons but all of those are back at the department" Baekhyun frowned at the realization. "What do we do?" he looked at everyone. 

"We also can't go about this on our own, I know their size and we are miniscule in comparison we'd get wiped fast. We need more people" Chanyeol stated. 

"Chen come with me" Suho grabbed a hold of the youngers arm dragging him to the door "wait what?! To where?" he voiced. Suho turned around and smiled a smile none of them had seen before, it was borderlines evil. "The casino is still running and I'm sure there are a lot of dopes hiding out in there. I need you to cause havoc one more time" Chen's smile soon mirrored the CEO and they were out the apartment quickly but not before Chanyeol shouted, "meet us at the outskirts of the forests!" then the door swung closed.

Chanyeol looked over at the cat like male knowing he has something to say that'll stir him. "Xiumin, I know where your misfit crew is hiding out but it leads to the heart of the chaos" Chanyeol informed and the man's eyes brightened and with no hesitation, said, "Take me!". 

"Okay so here's the basic plan! Since Suho already took Chen, those to work together; Chanyeol, Xiumin, Kyungsoo And I will take to getting the dealer's men and possibly some of mine if they're still around" Kai started gesturing animatedly at each member. "Then; Chief, Sehun and his partner, the officers and Lay will go to the department and round up as many as they can along with gear for everyone and weapons" the pretty male continued "and like Chanyeol here said, we meet-up at the outskirts of the forest where he'll lead us to the camp" Kai finished and looked up to which everyone was staring at him in shock. 

He stood straighter and folded his arms, bottom lip pushed out slightly into a pout then coiled into a smirk. "What? I can be a top sometimes to" he gestured to Baekhyun, "ask him, he loved it".

Chanyeol fromed at the bronze skinned male, "What?" his voice was deep and hard, Baekhyun looked at him; why was he mad? The male seemed like he would enjoy something like that. Kai patted Chanyeol's arm. "Don't worry stud, he's all yours. He's not my type, too dramatic".

Baekhyun frowned then and started to walk forward with closed fists before Xiumin stopped him, "it's a good plan so let's go and do it before anything else gets worse" Kyungsoo said and everyone nodded. 

"This guy wants to attack us with an army" Sehun started before he set is hard eyes on everyone in the room "fine, let's play by his cards".

 


	19. Episode 11: Formation

Lancor was a big city. Even bigger than Ilcan, many people bustled about in the bleak atmosphere, buildings went high above your head that it hurt your neck if you stare too long. But where as Ilcan was the picture of a typical urban area, Lancor had a more old time feel to it; with the cobble stone roads and walkways, the main areas with shops packed together with no space in between with chalkboard written signs outside of cafes and restaurants selling their new specials. The way people dressed were different too, with their comfortable slacks and sweaters that looked straight out of a hand-me-down shop; cars here were more on the sleek, dated side. It was really as if you took a trip back in time.

Everyone knew each city had their own identities to them which is why when many moved around, it was hard to adapt to the new environment. The two other cities were the same; Polkin was a very vast land of green hills and farms, anyone who lived there didn't use any type of technology, choosing to stay true to nature and finding other ways to keep them occupied while being the sole source of organic foods that are transported to each other land. And Gincade was more of the futuristic advanced city of each one. With the tall glass buildings, winding tracks in the sky for the RF05 to run on and the weird assortment of houses stacked on each other. 

 

The four assassins come into the clearing onto an open street. People were walking around, oblivious to what was happening miles away from them. A rumble sounds up above and Joy looks to the sky to see grey clouds slowly rolling in. 

"It'll start raining soon" she voices as they start walking to the main clearing where lots of shops settle. 

"That's a bad omen" Ezen says fleetingly. 

Joy didn't know what worse could come after what they've just witnessed but she didn't hold her breath, this is the rebellion they were talking good about. With that psychotic man as their leader anything could go. 

"So dad" Joy said as they hurry down the pavement before turning down a scarce walkway, "where is she?" Joy looks around at her surroundings only now noticing that the shops they were walking by were rundown and the windows dark or boarded up. 

"Who exactly are we talking about, here?" Genze asked, also looking around with a furrowed eyebrow. 

"Someone I go way back with. If we are looking for back up she's the best woman for the job" Alecai says taking another turn coming face to face with an area crawling with troubled people. Most seemed homeless; beer cans and bottles were strewn about along with garbage. People in cut up rags or grimy outfits leaned against the walls, Joy wrinkled her nose as she saw actual rotting dead bodies still strewn out near the sides. 

"Uncle do you know her?" Genze pondered on. 

"Her name is, Yeri. A handful of a woman, she used to lead a group of hunters before they were killed, only she survived and kept going on her own. She got into a predicament with a gang while Alecai and I were on a mission and we saved her" Ezen explained as they stopped at a horrible green door of a brick house that looked like it was falling apart. "She still owes us as we never cashed in on the debt. We will be now". 

Joy felt multiple eyes on her and as she looked to her left and over he shoulder, those that they passed were staring at the intruders. Probably wondering if they would be an easy jump or if they'd be putting themselves up for a bad encounter they couldn't afford. Joy wanted to tell them to not even think about, as they'd be dropped kicked in seconds if they placed one finger on her but just then the green door creaked open. 

"Are you lost?" the shadow cast individual said and Joy cranes her neck to see them better. She gasps lightly at the sight of a male; he was of average height in black dirty pants and black dust scattered sweater but what garnered that response from Joy was the obvious scar he held on his face. There was a long gnarly looking gash at the right side of his mouth that went as far as just under his eye. He would've been handsome if not for that deformation but Joy found his eyes to be really pretty; they were a golden brown, like honey. He glanced over at her and remembering she didn't have her hood up she looked away, feeling a slight heat come to her cheeks. 

"Do you know where Yeri i-" Alecai started before a harsh shout comes from behind the dark space. 

"Donghae! What the hell did I say about opening the fucking door at any knock!" the half opened door was ripped further back, revealing more of the hallway but the person was still staring at the male called Donghae, who looked unfazed by the angry yelling. "What if it's-" the person cuts themselves off as they looked out towards the lot standing in front of the door. 

Joy thought she was very pretty, her hair was shoulder length and brown. She had a youthful look but you could tell she was older, maybe around her fathers age; her height was as average as the male if not shorter, who was still standing next to her looking at all them with what Joy assumed was curiosity yet his expression was still and cold, eyes hooded like he was tired. Yeri was wearing sweats and a T-shirt as she glowered at the intruders before her eyes narrowed. 

Alecai takes of his hood and addresses the woman. "Yeri, happy to see you're still kicking". Joys eyes widened at the fact that she might just have heard a playful tone to her fathers voice for the first time in years. Her father was handsome, time having aged him well. He had a few grey strands in his black locks out of stress but that was all that gave away his age. His face was a nice sculpted arrangement with a attractive chiseled jaw. 

Yeri still had her eyes narrowed. "Alecai. What brings you to my humble abode" she puts her hands to her hips looking all the bit intimidating. 

"It's been a while" he says simply and Yeri stare at him before some of the hardness leaves her features but not fully. "It has" she agrees. 

A silence passes and Joy watches with a furrowed eyebrow before her eyes widen again at the fondness dropping from her fathers brown eyes that he hasn't even directed at her or Pheonix, ever. Joy looked between the both of them and shakes her head trying not to comprehend what was actually happening so before she could she pushes at her father's arm. 

"Dad. The mission" Joy hears a scoff come from Ezen who also removed his hood to reveal his grey hair and neat old appearance. 

"Right" Alecai states and his face turns back solemn as it always was, "we need a favor. It's about the rebellion" he says. 

Yeri's face returns with the deep frown, her side now vacant of Donghae who must of slipped away some time ago. Yeri steps out further and looks behind them and on either side before backing up and opening the door wider so they could come in. "You visit me after all this time and it's for a favor I considered expired a long time ago? And just my luck it's about that indulgent group of whack jobs" she huffs, closing the door behind them.

The hallway was dim and short. They walked into an empty expanse of space, full of many discarded mattresses and a solid group of people walking good about. All of them looked their way as they came in, weaving through the mess. There was a mini island area the separated the small kitchen from the big living space that felt smaller with the amount of people. There was a door or two on the left wall and a hallway straight ahead that had another door or two. 

"Hey! Yeri, who are the death thugs?" someone called out and Joy looked over at a guy near the kitchen island holding a mug, "you still recruiting people now knowing how old you're getting?" his smile was mischievous and Joy could tell he was the annoying type that had no filter. 

"Fuck off, Eunhyuk or I will shoot a hole in your head right here" she flips him off, not stopping to even look at him. Joy spots Donghae standing in front of him behind the island, shaking his head. 

"Ouch. Grandma is getting feisty, guys" Eunhyuk jokes and most of the people in the room laugh. Joy didn't sense hostility just familiarity, like this happened a lot. 

They walk down the hallway that was right across from them and Yeri opens the door into a room, with one of the same mattresses as were scattered about the living space but with a neater surrounding. "Let's talk in here" she says. "Donghae, you're in charge!" she shouts briefly and Joy hears a chorus of groans follow her into the room as the door is shut behind her. 

"So what's this favor you need?" Yeri asks, staying by the door as the rest stand in front of her. 

Alecai gets straight to the point. "Ilcan is under attack, the rebellion set out sometime this morning and are now causing havoc. They dropped bombs on the city and destroyed our community, we tried to get everyone to safety but they killed some of us; the rest made their way here in the city". Yeri nodded then shook her head, arms crossed. 

"Look and what you got yourself into Alec, and after I warned you about them" she states. 

"Wait you know them?" Genze asks. Yeri looks away from Alecai and towards the young male beside Joy. 

"Yes I do. It doesn't feel like long ago when that man's asshat minions came around these parts, taking anyone remotely looking for change or at their wits ends, anyone who looked like trouble or was willing to cause trouble" she shook her head at the memory. "Had to take my guys out of these parts for a while and even then, some of them got wrapped up, it was a mess. That was around the beginning of their come up, I'd gotten in touch with Alec, to keep a look out" she glares back at Joys father. "Looks like it was a futile effort". 

Joy ignored all the obvious slips of a nickname that came to familiarly for this just to be a rescuer and rescued debt relationship. 

"So you know our predicament" Ezen speaks. "Things are most likely getting out of hand now as we speak, we don't know what they have planned beyond this". 

"We need back up. Pheonix and a bunch of criminals and officers are planning to put a stop to him, and we both know they can't do it alone and I know you have many connections. You owe me this favor, Yeri" Alecai states. 

The woman sighs. "I was hoping I'd never have to be involved with those rats again. This is going to be messy". 

Joy went to the window she noticed behind her. It was surprisingly looking out onto the open square they had bypassed but what made Joy draw the curtains and turn around to address the room was the horrifying red and lifeless bodies that painted the cobble stone roads and side walks. 

How had they not heard?! They were here. The rebellion was here and Joy knew it wouldn't be long before Lancor too, was being splattered with bombs. 

 

 

 

 

Lemon and the other council members along with a big chunk of their remaining fighters ran at the forefront of their massive remaining group. She regretted not being able to protect all of them but times have come to a horror and some would unfortunately have to perish. 

"Lemon, are you sure we should've rounded back?" another of the elders called. 

"Yes, I feel it. Lancor isn't safe anymore, nowhere is" she states. She looks back at everyone, no one really looked scared, save for the little ones and she knew they all had to prepare themselves. Everyone was going to have to put themselves on the line to protect each other. 

"But why go back to Ilcan, shouldn't we go to Polkin to warn them?" someone asked. 

"Those suckers have the Allegra Dolei. No matter how insufferable those men are, they will do all they can to protect that city. That's why they formed in the first place". Lemon shakes her head, remembering back into history. "Ilcan is our city, and who will protect them, if not us? We might pledge by assasination and aren't really protectors but for the sake of the future, in this moment; let's change". 

She heard encouraging shouts follow behind her. She smiles softly but it dropped as she saw the fighters ahead stop. She flips and eyebrow up under her hood. 

"What is it?" she asked but one of them turns around and shushes her. 

Lemon looks back at everyone who seemed just as curious, tilting their heads to see. She looks back at the fighters before having enough and creeping up to peer from behind them. a few feet away at the threshold where the forest ends and the city starts were a wall of men in black wielding weapons, but they had their backs to them looking on into the city; the noise and chaos now reaching their ears. 

Lemon saw the blood, the discarded bodies of people who just days before lived peacefully and went about their lives. A feral type of anger billowed low in the belly of the old woman; having seen so much death before, having killed so many herself; nothing about this was right it was just straight feral, animalistic.

"Oh my" she heard one of her kin voice behind her in a low whisper, probably having seen the mess. 

"What are we going to do?" Gren, the oldest of the council among the five that were here; the rest coming to stand in line with her. They watched a screaming woman run near the threshold only to be sliced in the neck by one of those in black who stood like a wall near the opening. Lemon frowned.

"What else?" she said "we remove them" in a flash and a flick of her robed arms, the weapon that was woven into them coil out swiftly and she catches them into her palms. 

"Not if we remove you first" someone says to their right and all their heads whip in the direction of the voice as a gun cocks. The person reveals themselves and all at once many others show themselves around them. Those taking care of the kids pull them closer, behind them. 

The man was tall and lanky, his face thin but features sharp. He would be very intimidating with the dark bags under his eyes if not for Lemon and many of the others seeing him many times before. 

"Tao" Lemon says, no trace of anything in her voice. 

He steps closer but doesn't lower the gun or tells his entourage to lower their weapons. "You guys should've just committed all the way" he shook his head, "you think we didn't know you guys were planning a way to get out?".

Nobody says anything and lemon looks over at them before discreetly touching one of the elders arms, "the kids" she says under breath and then, "Polkin". They seem to get it as they signal the fighters.

"We didn't want to do this but you gave us no choice" Tao went on and if he noticed the exchange he didn't acknowledge it. "Lucky for you, I'm not here for any of you. Tell me where Pheonix is and I'll let you guys go" he says. Signaling with a wave of two fingers for his entourage to close in. 

"Don't take me for a fool, Tao" Lemon gripped her weapon, her face cast in shadow. From the corner of her eyes she saw others getting prepared. "If you just wanted to only know where Pheonix was, you wouldn't still have your weapons pointed at us. Now!". She shouts. 

Everything moves in a blur as she quickly slashes out at those behind, the groves in her weapon jutting out like spikes lodging themselves wherever they please, sending more than half of them falling; dead or injured. Out of the corner of her eyes she sees others attacking and watches as Gren and the other half of them, scoop up the kids and start for the open space between the throng of people Lemon had cleared. Just as the wall of people in black turn around at the disruption but before they could do anything, with a quickness that only they could muster, the fighters Gren had took with them had the men lying lifeless on the floor. Lemon keeps slashing, weaving around her kin like a practiced routine that only came with years of being a tight knit community and a veteran. The other half of their group disappear into the chaos and all Lemon could do was hope they make it. 

A shot goes off and Lemon finds her arm bursting in pain. She looks back at Tao, eyebrows furrowed and eyes dark. "Tell me where Pheonix is, my boss wants him and his sorry excuse for a crew, dead." he keeps the gonna pointed. 

"I don't know where that boy is" she holds her bleeding arm.

She feels multiple arms grab for her but she fights them off, feeling a prick in her side as she turns seeing more of that foolish man's minions coming up behind her. A barrage of her kin come in for the attack effectively offing most of them, they didn't stop there; they continued as they were advanced on. Hesitation wasn't something an assassin knew, either go in for the kill or die and awful death. 

If you were to watch it, it was like an art the way they used teamwork to their advantage. Lemon knew all these kids, watching them as they grew up into adults and even now she knew not all of them would make it out of these woods if some of their dead bodies on the green forest floors they've always called home was anything to go by. 

"I know you're lying, Lemon. We can do this the easy way old woman" the hard voice of Tao interrupted her thoughts, her chest heaving as she bled from wounds she garnered. She whips out at him but only nearly connects as he ducks out of the way, minions that were left over grabbed at her arms successfully getting a hold off her robe, pulling but she slips out of it as they come away with the fabric and unfortunately her weapon. 

She stumbles just as someone kicks her in the back of her knees and she falls. She looks up at the approaching boots to see Tao grinning messily. "Even If I did know where he was, I wouldn't tell you. Following behind that man won't do you or any of these people any good" she spits at him. 

He leans down and grabs a fist full of her hair, pulling her head back. She sees the other four members of council coming over bearing their weapons but she gives them a pointed look and shoots her eyes towards the city. They stand there and look between each other before backing away slowly, slashing at on coming attackers before going back to the others, hopefully to tell them too to take this leave. 

Tao only laughs before she feels hands grab her arms once more as if she could have something else up her sleeves and held them out to either side. Lemon watches as those still left behind brush past. Tao let's go of her and cocks his gun up to her forehead, right between her eyes. 

"Why don't you tell me something" she states, "Is your coward of a boss going to come out or is he going to keep hiding and letting others do his dirty work?". Tao frowned. 

"What exactly does he want?" she tries. Tao smiles and kneels in front of her. "Know why would I tell you that?" 

Lemon looked into those dark eyes, many suppressed feelings coming back to the surface. "Because we are family" she says. 

Tao only scoffs, "that branch of the tree went crooked years ago, grandma" his voice dripped with mock endearment. His finger squeezes the trigger and a loud blast sounds out into the green, somehow louder than all those that were just previously given. Lemon's body drops in a heap on the dirt ground and Tao stands up with a grunt, now feeling the exertion of having to fight multiple assassins at once before getting to what he wanted. 

"That's for killing my parents" he says. Before gesturing for his squad to get going, they had to find Pheonix before he disrupts their plans. 

 

 

 

 

"Are you sure they’re here?" Xiumin asks as they duck behind buildings, away from the roaming eyes of all black wearing enemies. 

“I’m positive” Chanyeol said as he runs across a gap behind another building, Xiumin, Baekhyun and Kai follow suit. 

It was a ghastly sight, downtown. Not just a day ago it was thriving and bustling with people on the upper side but as they make their way through the four men witness the blood stained roads and sidewalks; blood dry and old as if it were spilt hours ago and some fresh and bright red as if unsealed moments before they arrived. Bodies were everywhere as you would expect and a mass of people were still running or being pushed to the ground by minions of the rebellion holding their intimidating guns. 

The four make it back to the slumps where the burnt rows of buildings gave an eerie, abandoned feel to the desolate area that now seemed like just a space for discarded bodies. 

"Jeez, this looks and smells like shit" Baekhyun observed, pinching his nose for effect. The others silently agreed as they followed Chanyeol through the sparce alleyways. 

Baekhyun heard low rumbling coming from above and saw dark clouds looking down on them, rain, he thought. What a fitting backdrop for such a tragic time. He casted his eyes forward landing on the back of the man who was still more of a mystery than an ally. Baekhyun kept his eyes trained as the sky got darker and the male seemed to blend into the air, as if fading and becoming one with the darkness closing in on them. His swift movements were still intriguing to Baekhyun, he wondered what else the man was trained to do; if the dead bodies around him were of comfort or did he feel sympathy for them.

"We're here. But we got trouble" Chanyeol's voice rung low and Baekhyun found his bones rattling at its timbre. 

The other three, two who have been uncharacteristically quiet the whole way, looked from behind the tall males body to see a kind of motel lot clearing. A head office with a sign near the edge of the long building wrapping around the space, rooms on the lower level and two rickety iron stairs leading to a second floor where more room were located; it was a 3 floor concrete building with long hallways. 

But what made them stop from advancing further were the group of men in black standing by the office close to where they hid, a body lifeless not far away from it. There were even some of the men walking the length of each hallway, bodies carelessly thrown in a heap by the sidewalk. 

"It looks like they cleaned the place out, made it some sort of temporary base?" Xiumin questioned. 

"I guess mass killers need sleep too" Kai dryly joked to which Baekhyun rolled his eyes, this guy really didn't have a thing for timing. 

"Chanyeol, what if we are too late? What if they've already killed them?" Xiumin voiced his concerns. Everyone looked at him with his wide eyes staring at the guarded space; it was the first sign of actual emotion the male had given off since he's been in their presence. 

"Why are you so hung up on some lackeys?" Baekhyun voiced, not really meaning for the words to come out as inconsiderate as they did but waved it away at the fact that he didn't really know this guy to watch his tones. 

Xiumin glared at him before sighing looking at them then back at the motel clearing. "I made a promise to someone that I would look after them" he said, "a friend of mine whom I haven't seen since he disappeared one night a couple years ago" Xiumin sighed, having not wanted to talk about something he found super personal. 

Baekhyun didn't know what to say, it seemed like such a bizarre situation. But he guessed everyone had their own stories, their own sort of abandonment.

Baekhyun awkwardly patted the male on the back. "If it makes you feel any better, my parents used me as a gambling wild card; took all the money and their stuff and left me" he said with no apparent emotion to his voice, having time to become numb to the whole realization. 

Xiumin looked at him in shock for a second before glancing to the ground and huffing out a chuckle. "I guess we're all messed up" he said. 

Baekhyun could feel smoldering eyes on him but he didn't want to look at where they were coming from because he wouldn't actually see what they read, only a veil that would leave him feeling uncertain. And he didn't like the way that his body was so aware of those eyes. 

Kai let a soft laugh slip from his lips. "Since we are all sharing, I guess I should tell you that; I became a stripper in my first year of college because I loved the attention and ultimately murdered someone by poisoning them because they were stealing my spotlight".

There was a beat of silence before Baekhyun spoke. "Yeah, that's not really surprising or hard to believe". Kai's mouth gaped open as if he had expected the others to be more surprised before he made a face and huffed, "you guys are insufferable". 

"I think we should get back to the matter at hand" Chanyeol's voice filtered through, just as another rumble of thunder passed through the ever darkening clouds. "I know what room their in. Let's hope they're not in that pile over there and that they had the brains to hide well". 

"How are you so sure?" Xiumin asked. 

Chanyeol's back was turned to them, he was looking around the entire space. "I may or may not have saw them wandering aimlessly when I strolled passed here a day after the ambush and gave them the key to my apartment" he said nonchalantly as if it was the most normal thing. 

"That's seems like a nice thing to do for such an emotionless assassin as yourself" Baekhyun voiced, ignoring the wonder growing in his chest for the tall male.

He just hummed as he turned back to them. "So how exactly are we going to get passed these guys?" Kai voiced. 

A smile grew onto Chanyeol's face showing off his straight teeth just as the sky above gave one more rumble before the heavy drops of rain were knocking against their clothes and skin. Chanyeol looked unaffected as he pointed above him, the dark overcast of the growing night falling on them; a clap of lightning lit the sky briefly making Chanyeol look like a mere sinister shadow before them. 

"Have any of you ever scaled a roof before?".

 

 

 

 

"Fuck! Faster Chen!" Suho shouted as they ran as fast they could, a few of the rebellion chasing after them. Suho had tried to kept them both hidden but one misjudged turn of a corner and they were pounding pavement while shots were firing at their backs. Honestly Suho didn't know how they were still alive, these guys had very bad aim. 

They jumped over dead bodies as they made a beeline for the main street where clubs and restaurants resided. "Ah!" Suho heard Chen shout and saw him almost fall, blood pooling against his arm. 

"Shit!" Suho said,  going over and pushing Chen to turn even though he knew the male was well aware of where his club was.

Chen moved his good arm to the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a gun, turning and pointing it head on with the men in black and their assault rifles. "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!" he yelled pulling gun the trigger three times, Suho looked over his shoulder to see three of them get clocked dead on between the eyes and fall to the ground.  More relentless shots fired at them and both males made a sharp turn to a brief alleyway seeing the familiar rectangular break in the brick wall, with stairs heading down to the clubs doors. 

They quickly raced down the steps and threw the doors open, quickly shutting it. As soon as they turned they heard the clicks of guns and was being pointed at with several different types from criminals Chen used to see on a daily basis. 

"Put down your damn guns now, before I clock all of you just like I did everytime I came here" Chen spoke up forwardly putting pressure to his wounded arm. 

"Chen, is that you?" some guy asked and the younger nodded waving his gun to point at Suho. "And this is the guy you all give your money to everytime you buy a drink, he owns the place. So you better suck up to him now for all the damage and money you costed him" Chen inquired haughtily.

"Fuck you bastard, you know it was always you startin those fights!" another person yelled. Most had lowered their guns at the familiarity of a known criminal. 

"We don't have time for chatter!" Suho spoke up in a very authoritative voice, earning all eyes on him, "shits going down out there and we had a couple enemies on our tail, they could bust in here any minute and y'all will be heaps of dead meat" Suho continued.

A chorus of voices started talking just as loud bangs started thumping against the door, Suho and Chen feeling the force against their backs. 

"Fucking hell, what do we do?" a big brute guy said in the back, holding a mean looking spiked club. 

"A couple of us have started to create a resistance" Suho informed, more loud banging forcing the two off the door before they return to leaning on it. "As dumb as it sounds, we are going to try and stop these idiots. We came here for back up and I know you guys are criminals and are used to doing things on your own but unless you want to die a pathetic death by a psychotic fucker I suggest you join us". 

A hard bang sends the two males stumbling forward, the door looked about ready to burst of the hinges, it must be a lot of them now because that door is pretty heavy. "Looks like you guys don't have much of a choice" Suho started as him and Chen stand in front of the crowd of criminals facing the giving door, raising their weapons. 

"If we get through this and take these guys down while living to tell the tale, I'll renovate the club and you all get free drinks for a month. On the house" Suho bargained as a last ditch effort if some were having qualms with the idea. He heard a chorus of cheers and scoffed, typical; it's always the free stuff. 

Suddenly a deafening explosion sounded and rattled the space, the crowd inside stumble and get pushed back off their feet as they stared at the gaping hole through the door. At that moment everyone moved to take cover just as the shots ring out before you saw any actual bodies. Suho slides behind a table as some of them unavoidably go down. Chen found Suho's eyes as he was hiding behind a table like him. He tore a strip if his shirt with his teeth and tied it around his still bleeding arm. It was like everyone had the same mindset because as the men in black filed in, everyone jumped from behind their hiding spots and pounced. The guy with the club took down a couple at a time, the nails on his weapon lodging themselves grotesquely into their enemies bodies. 

Bullets flew from guns, successfully dropping a number of them but it wasn't like they were going to stand there and get killed, they retaliated; fighting back and matched up really well. But they were fighting against criminals and they all had a way of catching you off guard, some worked as a diversion as others ambushed from behind; Chen and Suho stood back to back as they shot their rounds together, it was really something of an action movie. Suho raised his hand over his head, hoping their allies saw and motioned for the busted doorway. He took Chen's arm pulling him as he kept firing, Suho tucked his gun away having no time to reload and picked up a sharp looking debris of a destroyed table; he stuck the sharp end into the chest of a black suited enemy and went on to stabbing another in the eye, then another he impaled multiple times. He didn't even noticed that he'd let go of Chen's hand and took to getting rid of these pests, he used the now blood drenched tip of the sharp shard and slit another throat before he could pull the trigger. 

Suho found another sharp shard and weaved himself through the bodies easily, grossly bringing the weapons down into the flesh of their enemies with so much force one had its stomach cut clean open and guts spilled out. The fighting still sounded but he could hear footsteps running past him, they must've all got his que. But for some reason he just couldn't quit, it's been a while since he's actually felt blood on his hands, his face; felt the life of someone draining under his brutal touch. A crazed smile made it to his lips as he heavily slashed out a bubbling laughter escaping him before a heavy hand rested on his shoulders. He stopped with red anger flowing through him, who dare stop him from feeling so alive?

"Damn, remind me never to piss you the fuck off" Chen's voice flowed into his ears and the red of his vision subsided and the obnoxious males face came into view.

Suho looked around and saw that many of the men in black were in heaps of bloody gore. He looked down at his hands and saw an amazing dye of red that pained his usually fair skin, he dropped the indistinguishable weapons under all the guts and blood to see his hand shaking. He looked back up at Chen, did he really do all this?

"You took most of them down, but you were not in your right mind" Chen shook his head as in disbelief that one person can cause so much damage, which was ironic coming from him. "The criminals are outside, they're waiting for you".

Suho nodded silently as he followed the younger out of the destroyed club.

 

 

 

 

"Grab loads of weapons and gear as you can, we need to hurry and get back to the others" Sehun advised as officers raided the weapon room. Lay put on a bullet proof vest and belted a taser and holstered a gun, Kyungsoo does the same but he chooses an assault rifle than a mere handgun.

"I hope the other guys aren't having too much trouble, all of this is just so extreme" Chief said out loud.

Sehun sighed at the thought of any of their bodies lying lifeless on the ground because of a run in with those bastard minions in black.

"I can not speak for the CEO and the really loud guy; Chen I think but the others have Chanyeol and he does not hesitate." Kyungsoo voiced matter-of-factly.

Sehun thought about the assassin, he still didn't know how he felt about him. He felt betrayed and tricked, how was he supposed to know if the male won't turn on everyone and end up working for the enemies? He might of told them about himself and showed them what was under the hood, no matter how scarred bad bizarre but who's to say it wasn't just to gain trust until it was time to turn around and stab them in the back?

"Stop thinking that way" Yixing spoke up and Sehun looked into the unwavering, hard eyes of the surgeon who he always felt uneasy around.

"What way?" Sehun questioned as the doctors eyes narrowed and kept looking into those of Sehun, hard and strong; making the detective look away. It felt like he was looking into him and seeing everything, like he knew everything before others.

"Chanyeol wouldn't do that, he's more than an assassin. We are all more than criminals" Yixing spoke and Sehun looked back at him to meet dark eyes, "we are damaged souls who are finally seeing an out to our locked cages" He finished before turning away, Sehun had no words. 

"Alright guys, I have my men ready!" Leeteuk popped his head in "let's get a move on and meet with the others, we have a rebellion to stop" his eyes looked sad but we all knew why, it was foolish to ask.

They all make their way out into the open room just as Minho who's been hiding away here bursts in. "There are jet planes flying over head, it looks like their heading toward Ginca-" , but the poor man didn't get to finish as a burst of blood erupts from his forhead and he crumples to the floor a look of shock permanently etched on his face. Small holes were made through the glass windows as bullets like pellets barraged into the room forcing the others to take cover.

Outside over head they could hear the whine and zoom of jet planes. "We need to get out of here, we don't know what their planning" Chief gruffed and they all nodded, quickly crouchng behind o hectares to get to the door, avoiding the rampant bullets that started as a jet zoomed pass. They all file out into the gloomy night as rain pelted down on them harshly just as one of the jets noisily passes over head, the rumbling on par with the thunder coming from the clouds. A long missile like object comes sailing towards them at a fast speed, it crashes through the windows as the bunch try to run but it blows on impact and they are blasted across the pavement, shards of glass flying into the air and the police department erupts into a ball of angry fire. Debris follow the glass and big chunks of the building start falling around them, the group get to their feet quickly and start running as more jets passes over head, releasing missiles into buildings and houses that blow up instantly. 

Sehun saw discarded debris, dropping on unaware citizens crushing them and he couldn't help put be sick all over the destroyed streets. This was beyond any chaos that he's witnessed. Are they sure they could really go up against this? All around him nothing but death fell, what really was this 'rebellion'?

 

 

 

He looked out the window at his jets taking off with a dark smile on his face, everything was going perfectly. Soon all city's would be rubble and he would go to the council and demand they grovel at his feet and hand over the reins to him. He'd build a new empire, one where he solely ruled; it's what his parents would've wanted, isn't it what they fought for? Died for? His brows furrowed,  he actually couldn't remember but he was beginning to not care about what it is his parents were planning to do with the rebellion, he had nurtured them into the tough, strong entity they were now; they were lethal under his command.

One of his guards burst into his hold up, panting. "Pheonix, he's been spotted and so have the others but they were unable to be obtained" he spoke, the tall male said nothing as he stood with his hands in his pockets.

"They're coming. I should get ready for them" a smile never leaving his lips until the the guard spoke again. "And your brother, boss. They've spotted him also". 

There was a pause before he turned around abruptly his eyes wide and crazed and a smile eating up his face. The guard stepped back, feeling uneasy in his bosses presence. "is he with them? Is he coming for me on his own?! Is he finally coming to confront me?!" his voice was hysterical with laughter and anticipation, the guard shrunk away from his bosses advancements. 

"I-I don't know, sir" that seemed to snap the towering male out of his trance because his face crumpled into a scary sneer and before the guard could do anything he pulled a knife from his belt and sliced the unsuspecting man's throat. 

"Guard!" he called and another male comes in, he sees the dead body but doesn't question it. "Get the rest of the men ready, I think it's time I joined the action". 


End file.
